The Reunion
by HotCrossBunnies
Summary: Chloe and Lex meet on prom night and then again five years later at the reunion, a lot has happened in between.
1. Chapter 1

**The Reunion**

**Rating:** R  
**Disclaimer: **I own absolutely nothing to do with Smallville.  
**Potential spoilers:** Up to S4 although I have changed some of the back story  
**Summary:** Chloe and Lex meet on prom night and then again five years later at the reunion, a lot as happened in between.

**Chapter One**

A sliver Aston Martin screeched to a halt outside the High School and a well-dressed man sprang out of it. He tore up to the building, throwing open the doors and paying no heed as they banged against the walls, only taking a second to glance down at his watch. Fuck! He was running so late!

He sprinted through the halls, cursing his choice of footwear as he did so and praying that she would still be there.

"Have they announced prom queen yet?" He demanded of a senior that he seemed to know by sight.

"Yeah, ages ago".

"Fuck", he swore again. "Where is she?" He had no doubt that she would have won; no one could hold a candle to her.

The teen shrugged, "Back in there", he gestured to the gym behind him, seemingly unconcerned. "She and Clark went off for a while but she is back there now".

He breathed a sigh of relief; at least that meant that he had not completely missed her. He might still be able to make this up to her and he was sure that he would be able to find someone who had taped the coronation - so at least he would still get to see her, even though it was hardly the same. He ignored the comment about Clark, sure that it would be nothing and not having the time to dwell on that matter at that moment.

Without a word of thanks, he burst through the gym doors and was almost bowled over. The heat produced by a large gathering of teenagers huddled together was rather impressive, as was the noise coming from what they described in their broacher as a band, not to mention the sea of pink crape paper which covered what had been the gym merely a few hours before. He felt a shudder travel down his spine, he had never been so happy to have spent his teenage years in virtual solitude. If this was what it was like to go to High School dances, than all of those night alone in his dorm room had been well spent. If only he had known that he might not have worried about it so much.

That thought was put out of his mind as he scanned the crowd; he wasn't here for his own enjoyment, he was there for her. He searched all of the couples dancing on the floor but couldn't see her, he looked over the refreshment tables where some more people were socializing but again he could not find her. Finally, he started moving through the tables until finally he got to one almost empty tables and stopped.

Only the back of her head was visible to him but that was enough. He would recognise those blonde curls anywhere, even if they were tied back in a way that was unusual for her. He could also make out the creaminess of her shoulders between the hot pink of her halter neck and the rest of her black dress. He couldn't be sure, but he didn't think that he had ever seen her wear pink before. It wasn't his favourite colour, but she could pull it off.

He wasn't sure whether he should be pleased to see that no one else had taken the place which he intended to fill or sad that so far she had had no one to spend this evening with. She had been crowned Prom Queen, for goodness' sake, that was supposed to be something important in American High Schools. She should have been surrounded by friends and well-wishers and yet there she was all alone.

Wanting to see more of her, he moved around the side of the table and caught a glimpse of her face. He didn't know what he had expected to see but certainly not an expression of quite resignation. That wasn't her - she was young and brilliant and she had her whole life ahead of her, resignation had no place on her face or in her emotions.

She was looking down at her tiara, seeming far too calm considering what a big occasion it was. Then, every so often, she would prod it and a small, secretive smile would tug at her lips, before she glanced over at a couple dancing on the floor and it disappeared again. She hadn't even noticed that she now had company.

"You know, in a few months you won't even remember his name", he finally spoke.

"What?" She looked up in confusion, trying to locate the source of the intrusion. "Lex? What are you doing here?"

Lex smirked.

"Well I couldn't miss the coronation of Chloe Sullivan as Smallville's queen", he said, inviting himself to sit down.

"You did miss it", Chloe pointed out.

"You noticed that I was absent?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well no, not exactly. But if the famous Lex Luthor had been present then I am sure that someone would have noticed", Chloe tried to explain, cursing herself for blushing.

"I like to think that I have a certain presence", he smirked. "So how was it, having all of those girlish dreams fulfilled?"

"This", she gestured to their surroundings, "is not my dream girlish or otherwise".

"I know, but I promise you that it is theirs", he looked around the room. "You realise that every single girl here tonight wishes that they could be you?"

Chloe looked incredulously at him.

"You were crowned Prom Queen, you were voted most likely to succeed/get out of here, you got scholarships to several very impressive colleges", he said seriously counting the items off on his fingers, before adding in a joking manner, "and you have the company of the best looking bachelor in the room".

This got her to smile and he felt really good for the first time in a long time.

"So what has me puzzled is why you are sitting here all by yourself", he continued. He had to tread carefully unless he wanted her to tell him to fuck off and mind his own business, which past experience had told him she was quite capable of doing.

"The coronation didn't exactly go as planned … not that I actually had it planned at all. I was meant to come here as a reporter, look at what was going on, write an article, spend some time with Clark", she tried to keep the pain out of her voice, "but it didn't work out like that. I got possessed, got a crown, you know how it is". She tried to shrug the entire night off.

"Just a normal Friday night in Smallville then", he smiled.

"Pretty much", Chloe smiled back.

Lex didn't ask about the possession, and squashed his desire to find out not only what happened but also who was responsible. He reasoned that he had no reason to feel protective of Chloe Sullivan and that he would probably read about it pretty soon and it wasn't what that night was supposed to be about. He cared about Chloe, he hated to admit it but he did. Things hadn't been easy between them and he was willing to bet that after last year she hated him, but a few weeks ago she had smiled at him for no reason when he had seen her out and about. He couldn't believe it. Until that moment he hadn't thought that anyone would ever continue to care about him or even think that he was still a human. He had been battling to hold on to his friendship with Clark but could feel it slipping away from him. It had been after a particularly tense meeting in which Lex had worked out that it was only a matter of time until he lost Clark completely – based on the way that he had stared at him – that he had run into Chloe, in the park of all places. She had just been walking along, had seen him and had said hello and given him a friendly smile. To most people it would probably have been nothing more than a common courtesy but to a man as deprived of true affection as he was, it has been manna. That was when he had vowed to make an effort. Chloe was going to have the perfect prom night.

"I meant what I said", he said.

Chloe looked at him inquiringly.

"In a few months you won't even remember Clark's name", Lex reminded her of what he had said before, helpfully.

She snorted, not bothering to deny that she had been thinking about a certain flannel clad farm boy.

"Take it from someone who only had one friend in the whole of High School and didn't go to a single dance or have a single girlfriend", he admitted, "college is a completely different world".

"If High School is so unimportant then what are you doing here? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did graduate a _long_ time ago", she stressed the long and grinned at him cheekily. She could never resist trying to bait him, whatever her mood was.

"Because I wanted to see you", he replied honestly, "and because of that little fact I won't destroy your entire family's prospects because of that little slip of the tongue".

Chloe scoffed at him. They both knew that he wouldn't do anything like that; when Lionel had demanded that he fire her father he had come straight to her shaken the truth out of her and then protected them. He had finally stood up to his father, found out the truth about his grandparents' death and had put him in prison. He wasn't going to threaten her for real now.

"Why are you really here?" Chloe asked him, again.

"I told you, I wanted to see you", he poured himself a glass of punch.

"Why?" Chloe asked, "Was the thought of me getting crowned so comical to you that you had to come down here and see it for yourself?"

"Actually", he took a sip of the pink liquid and grimaced – it tasted much as it looked, pink! -, "it restored my faith in this town. I know that Clark suggested you to everyone as the alternative candidate – the one to vote for it they wanted to take a stand against the whole Prom Queen thing -, but they still voted for you. They saw their superior and for once chose that person to lead them rather than trying to squash them. I'm impressed".

Chloe pulled at face at him.

Lex took a flask out of his pocket and put some in his drink and in hers, "This will liven it up a little bit".

"I'm not 21 yet, Lex", Chloe reminded him, not having any real objections.

"Please, I know that you have been into clubs before now", he said, hoping that she wouldn't ask about how he knew that.

"Cheers", Chloe said, choosing to ignore that he knew about her clubbing as she figured that Clark had told him about how she found him when he was in Metropolis, and because she liked having someone there to talk to. She supposed that she could have gone up to one of the groups of boys of her own age – it wasn't as if she hadn't had offered to dance that night – but she just didn't feel like it. She seemed thoughtful as she sipped her 'grown up' punch with appreciation; he had brought the good stuff, although as it was Lex she supposed that she shouldn't have expected anything else. After a few seconds had elapsed, she asked, "College is really different, huh? I mean, friendships change. The person that you thought you loved … you might find out that they weren't the one?"

"Sure, it happens all of the time", Lex answered easily, as he followed her gaze onto the dance floor.

He saw what had captured her attention and scowled. Clark and Lana were wrapped in each other's arms, neither of them really knowing how to dance but just enjoying being together. He shouldn't be angry he supposed; they weren't doing anything wrong – although he thought that they could have been a little more sensitive to Chloe's feelings, but he wasn't really one to talk on that subject - and they were in love after all. He didn't know if they would stay together, but it was almost certain that Chloe would get over Clark very quickly, once she was away from Smallville.

"When you go to … are you going to Yale or Harvard?" He wondered, he knew that she had got scholarship to both Universities and to several others but as they were the best they were the only real possibilities.

"I'm not sure yet, I got into MetU and …"

"No!"

"I beg your pardon", her head snapped back around to look at him, her broken heart and its cause temporarily forgotten.

"I said no. Chloe you can't throw your future away for some guy", Lex sounded truly disgusted.

Chloe looked down, she wanted to be angry with him but she couldn't. Well, that wasn't entirely true; she could be angry with him very easily – no one could make her loose her temper as quickly as Lex Luthor could – but not over this. "I know", she admitted and took another swig of her drink. "It needs more vodka", she informed him holding it out to him expectantly. Lex acquiesced.

"I don't know where I want to go really. I applied to MetU because as my safe backup option, the one I had to get into whatever happened. I then applied to every Ivy League school that I could think of just on the off chance that one of them might give me an interview, I never honestly thought that I would get into all of them – especially not with scholarships to most. It is a great opportunity, I know that, but I have never visited the campuses, I don't know the areas … I guess …" She trailed off and shook her head.

"Tell me", he coaxed.

She looked over at him, as if trying to calculate the risk involved before giving in. "I can hear myself, you know. I have full scholarships to the best schools in the country, my Dad isn't going to have to worry about anything and I am going to get a great education whichever one I go to. I am going to have the chance to have a new start and go to a new place. I should be so excited. I _am_ excited and Met U shouldn't even still be on the list but … I'm scared", she finally admitted.

Lex nodded, but remained quiet to let her continue.

"I feel like I am on the edge of this huge precipice, it is what I have been waiting and working for for years, but now that I actually have the option … I'm scared. It would be so easy to stay in Kansas, to go to MetU, to stay near Clark", she fiddled with the straw in her drink.

He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, tell her that she couldn't throw everything away for Clark. He mentally tried to work out how much he would have to pay to get Clark into one of those Ivy League Colleges.

"But I won't", her voice was low and calm.

He looked up.

"I'm just feeling sorry for myself", she gave shrug, "I have done all of the research, I'm in the process of making pro and con lists and when I work out which one is the best I will choose it but it won't be MetU. I will not throw everything away. Not really". She was decided.

"Thank God for that", he heaved a sigh of relief.

"You know a lot about these things right?"

Lex nodded. Strictly speaking he didn't really know a lot about it, but he wasn't going to tell Chloe that. If he didn't know the answer he would call the deans up, get them out of bed and get the information from them.

"Which one has the best looking men?" She asked, with apparent seriousness. "That is the one thing that the internet refused to tell me". He stared at her and she broke into a wide grin at the expression on his face.

"I haven't really noticed but I know quite a few people who have sisters who are still in those schools so I could always call and ask", he said as a better plan formed in his mind. He fingered his phone in his pocket, he would have to put his plan into action as soon as they entered phase two of his first plan.

"So, now we know that you are about to go to college and be a huge success, what do you say we make sure that you celebrate prom night correctly?" He suggested, trying to sound calm so as not to give the rest of the night he had planned out away.

"And how do we do that?" Chloe asked, wondering if Lex knew about the prom night tradition. She blushed slightly at that. Of course, he didn't. That was a thing that only girls knew about.

"Well, we start with dancing", he stood up and offered her his hand. "As it seems that none of the boys here know their right from their left, I suppose that the task falls to me. Chloe Sullivan, you would the Prom Queen do me the honour of dancing with me a former geek?"

"Ewww! You were a geek? Sorry no go", Chloe said in her best valley girl imitation as she got to her feet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Lex didn't even bother to pretend to be offended, instead he grinned down at her and kept his hand held out to her. This was probably the first time that he had risked being turned by a girl since he was her age and yet he wasn't worried in the slightest. Lex had planned out that night and knew exactly how, and where, it was going to end.

"Well you know what they say, you have to nab the geeks during High School so that you marry them before they make their millions and make you sign a pre-nup", he joked. That had actually happened to his best, and only, friend from Excelsior – with a little help/loan from the youngest Luthor that is. It was one of the best business decisions that Lex had ever made actually, his old friend had recently brought Microsoft to its knees and looked set to take on Apple in the next few months. Now the man who was worse bullied and reviled had women falling all over him.

"They say that, do they?" Chloe smiled at him teasingly as she pretended to consider his hand.

"Yes they do", he replied smoothly.

"Well I have never been one to do as everyone else saying oh", she broke off with a gasp. Lex had snatched her hand and pulled her after him onto the dance floor, apparently deciding that he had had enough of trying to be a gentleman. "Is this how you get all of your dance partners Lex?"

"No, normally women make it quite clear to me that they are available before I even think of asking them", he replied honestly.

Chloe didn't doubt him. "So what's my attraction, the fact that you can't have me?" She challenged him automatically without thinking about the words that were coming out of her mouth or how they could be misconstrued.

He turned to her and she shut up, blushing. She hadn't meant that, she hadn't meant to imply that he was attracted to her or that this was anything to do with that. Oh God, he would think that she was so up herself that she was inside out – as her Kiwi pen pal was wont to say/write.

Lex raised an eyebrow as he saw her blush. He had known perfectly well what she meant but could also appreciate the reason behind her sudden and quite evident case of embarrassment. Under normal circumstances he would have loved to have called her on it, to really make her squirm and see how far he could push it before she struck back and they entered into one of their famous matches of verbal judo, but that would hinder his plans for the rest of the night.

Reigning in his worst impulses with an effort, he opted for murmuring, "Not exactly". Slowly he allowed his gaze to shift up and down her form, making a point of lingering on her most attractive attributes so that she would be sure to catch his meaning.

He noted with no small degree of satisfaction that she had indeed grasped his meaning. Furthermore, she was clearly not accustomed to being devoured by a man's eyes – although why that should be Lex couldn't imagine - and the process obviously was making her a little uncomfortable, but being Chloe she tried to act calm. He smirked, enjoying the way that she held her chin just a touch too high in her attempt to seem unconcerned. It was utterly charming, but that would not save her.

Grasping her chin gently between his pianist's fingers, he lowered it a fraction of an inch and observed her as an artist would a canvas, wanting just the right shading to bring the work of art to life. After considering her for another moment before seeming satisfied, he advised her, "If you want people to think that you are comfortable, don't fidgety or act haughty … just look them straight in the eye".

Chloe could have kicked herself, or him, or someone who just happened to be passing. She knew that! She was a reporter for goodness' sake, she knew how to tell when someone was lying and how to make herself seem like their confident to get the truth out of them – all for the greater good, of course. She was the girl who had faced down Lionel Luthor – or tried to at least – without a quiver, but here she was getting flustered just because Lex was looking at her. She was pathetic. Trying not to let her confusion show on her face, she searched frantically for the best way to regain control.

"Don't always buy into the 'I'm so nervous and innocent and need a big strong man of the world like you to take care of me'", she advised him trying to sound very much like a woman of the world, but breaking into a tiny, overly breathy voice for her impression, before reverting to her normal tone. "That path will probably lead to your next to failed marriages". Once again the words were out of her mouth before she could really think about them. Chloe closed her eyes with a grimace. She hated being out of control. This was getting ridiculous, she was Chloe Sullivan and she could speak to anyone – at length - without problems, get information out of people, find truths that everyone else simply couldn't see and yet around Lex Luthor …

"That didn't come out the way I meant", she tried to backtrack.

"No, I think that it did", he said. He watched as her face contorted and wanted to reach out and tell her that it was alright, that he was not offended but that wouldn't get him anywhere. Seeing his chance, he pushed his advantage, "And now that you have so terribly insulted me, you cannot refuse to dance with me".

Chloe opened her eyes to stare up at him; she must have misheard him. She was just trying to replay the sound-bite which she had stored in her head to see what he had really said when she felt him taking one of her hands in his and placing the other one on his shoulder, before placing his on her waist. She ignored the tingles that this action sent through her, as she searched his eyes for the truth. He had clearly been pressing her to dance and he didn't seem mad, but he was Lex Luthor, he didn't stand around and let himself be insulted.

She swallowed as she took him in. His eyes were warm and filled with something which looked remarkably like mirth, his hands were large and strong and they were holding her, and that was when she realised that she hadn't really looked at him properly before. Well, she had. In fact, Chloe had studied him, trying to work out everything about him down to his favourite breakfast cereal. To this end she had scrolled through hundreds of photos of him, taken the chance to examine him in every meeting they had, not to mention indulging in several rather heated fantasies about him … but she had never looked at him like this.

He had perfect pale skin, just as he had when he had arrived in Smallville but now there were tiny, very faint freckles on his nose, the evidence of his second marriage and his ability to survive anything. He had the smallest hint of lines around his eyes, presents from his father Chloe was sure. He still smelled good just like he had at their first meeting but it wasn't just his cologne, she didn't know whether the change was in him or her but now she could smell the scent of the mansion on him, the aroma of good scotch, the leather of the chair he always sat in, and even the soap that he used.

Chloe couldn't explain it but he smelled like his life and it was soothing and real. It made her forget for a moment all of the stupid little things that she had been fretting about, this was what mattered: real life, surviving and prospering as Lex had and she knew that he had because she could smell him, more than that she could feel him as he pulled her gently further into his arms.

Even now they weren't dancing as intimately as some of the other couples on the floor, who were practically welded together. They were just dancing, Lex's arm wrapping itself around her waist and his hand now pressing against hers which was against his chest. He had touched her before, she could remember every single time from the first time that he had shook her hand to the way he had placed his hand on her shoulder when he had vowed to protect her, but never before had she felt quite so warm and protected. It was as if she were cocooned in tranquillity.

"I'm sorry that I made that comment about your wives", Chloe said from where her head naturally rested on his shoulder.

"That's okay. Besides, you were right", he said, as he continued to rock with her to the music. "Desiree put a spell on me – quite literally – but I can't claim excuse that with Helen". For a few minutes that seemed to be the end to the conversation, Lex was happy to just hold Chloe for now and breath in the scent of her flowery shampoo, until he remembered something and asked her, "You never liked her, did you?"

"No", Chloe answered. She remembered when she had gone to him with her research on Helen, and had been rebuffed. Trying to smooth over the topic so that their dance would not be cut short, she offered, "But I never found out anything concrete against her".

"I still should have listened to you", Lex acknowledged. In truth he had known that for the longest time. Even when she had come to him with the information he had suspected that it was true, but it was easier to make Chloe the villain of the piece rather than accepting that the woman to whom he had given his heart was just using him and that no one would ever love him and that he would live and die alone hated by everyone just like his father. So he had been rude to Chloe and clung to Helen as if she were his life line. Even on the island he had heard Chloe's words over and over in his head, when he had got back he had almost apologised but he had been too embarrassed and Chloe had just asked after his health and told him that they were all glad to see that he was alive, she hadn't rubbed it in. In hindsight he thought that that might have been the day when he begun his downward slide into …well into what didn't matter.

"You barely knew me. You had not reason to trust my research over her word", Chloe tried to let him off the hook, not mentioning all of the tears she had cried over the way the way that he had treated her that day when she had only been trying to help. It still stung as she thought of him calling her a silly, jealous, interfering little girl who would do better to worry about her own love life rather than his, but being nestled as she was in his arms took some of the discomfort away.

Lex would have felt better if she had let him have it for the way that he had behaved that day, but no she was Chloe – the only woman sweet enough to forgive something like that. He wanted her to know that he hadn't forgotten how badly he had acted and didn't take it lightly. "I knew that you were the only one to have worked out the links between the meteor rocks and the strange occurrences around here".

Chloe shrugged, or the nearest thing that she could do considering the position that she was in.

"As a Luthor there are several things that I can't say, I'm sorry being one of them. But I hope that you know that if I were capable, I would apologise for blowing you off that day and being so rude to you", he said, sounding a little gruff. He really hoped that she had not taken his words to heart that day, because if she had then the three months he had spent on that God forsaken island were nowhere near atonement.

"Well if you were capable and said that, I too would have to apologise", Chloe admitted, trying to hide just how happy his words made her. "I could have tried harder to get you to see the truth and in most cases I would have taken such a rebuff as a challenge to make you see what I saw and admit that I was right all along".

He looked down at her face as she tilted it up to stare right back.

"But I was so angry when you wouldn't take my word for it I decided to leave you to your fate", remorse flooded her voice; "If I had tried harder then maybe you wouldn't have ended up all alone on that island".

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He could just see her huffing indignantly over his appalling treatment of her and – quite reasonably – deciding to let him walk into the lion's den, but it killed him to know that he hurt her that much. Either way, he wasn't going to let her continue to feel one jot of guilt about her actions.

"Don't worry about it, I learnt a lot from it and the truth is that I was so far gone by that point that I doubt that anything you could have said would have made a difference", he tried to wrap up the conversation. This was not the way that the night was supposed to go. If he were going to shift gears in time, he would have to start now.

"So, what are you plans for tonight?" He wondered, trying to sound casual which was extremely difficult as she remained nuzzled up to him.

"Stay until 9 pm and then go home", she said with a rueful smile. Even to her own ears that sounded like a pathetic plan for what was supposed to be the most magical night of a girl's life – if even half of the romance novels she had read were to be believed.

Lex bit his lip to keep himself from uttering the first comment that came to mind at that. Once he had himself under control he noted with a smile, "I thought that prom nights were supposed to be a little more than that".

"Yeah, normally they are", Chloe admitted, a little woefully, "Or so I have been lead to believe".

He nodded thoughtfully as she presented him the opportunity he had been waiting for, "So, if you had your choice, what would you be doing tonight?"

Chloe shrugged again.

By now Lex had worked out that that was one of her tells; it was what she did when she knew the answer but didn't want to risk saying anything unless she let something slip. He prodded her gently, "You had no plans?"

She sighed; she didn't want to tell him the truth so she couldn't explain why her lips started moving. "I had three plans. My prom night dream, which I gave up on at the end of freshman year", she admitted, remembering being left by Clark and running around the dance asking everyone if they had seen him. He hadn't even bothered to tell her that he was leaving. She scowled before feeling it melt away as her back was rubbed.

Lex nodded, understanding what it felt like to be betrayed. He had heard about it at the time and had thought about how terrible it must have been for Chloe to just be stood up like that. He could never understand why Clark had not noticed that what he had done must have hurt others.

He tightened his arms around Chloe a little more protectively, without meaning to. When he realised what he had done he hoped that he wouldn't have frightened her off, but if Chloe had noticed it only seemed to encourage her to tell him more.

"My idea after that was to come with my date, have a nice time and then go off to University", she said, this time with little emotion.

"Date?" He inquired, looking around as if waiting for someone to come in a swoop her away from him. From his research leading up to this evening, he hadn't heard anything about a date. Well, if this mystery man did show up then he would have a fight on his hands because Lex had no intention of letting her go easily … if at all.

"Yes, I am capable of getting one", she snapped, a little hurt although she supposed that he had reason to know that she did sometimes get asked out seeing as he had never seen her on a date, she had never had a boyfriend, and he didn't think of her as anything other than Clark's little friend.

"I have no doubt of that", he assured her, a little shocked by the bite in her tone. Boys couldn't possible by a sore point for a girl as pretty as she was, he knew that Clark had probably knocked her confidence but there must have been a string of men just waiting to make her feel better. The possessive steak came out again as it had several times when he had received reports of Chloe kissing boys in The Torch office, honestly was nothing sacred anymore? Trying to get back on topic, he continued, "But Clark told me that you didn't have one for tonight. Hence my surprise".

"Yeah well, it didn't work out", she shrugged, feeling a little silly now for having made such a big deal out of it. She couldn't help but let her gaze wander over to the man who would have been her date, he was dancing with a girl who looked quite pretty. Chloe was happy for them.

Not realising what promoted her look, Lex offered, "Want me to have a word with him?" considering whether the boy looked like he might have any scholarships which he could have pulled.

"No thanks, I was the one who called it off", she explained, a little startled by the look in Lex's eyes. He looked like he would have liked to break her former potential date's fingers.

"Why? If you don't mind me asking", Lex's tone was clipped - he didn't really care if she did mind, she was going to tell him either way. If that boy had tried something then Lex would not be held responsible for his actions, or the boy's medical costs.

Chloe groaned. She would dearly have liked to be able to dodge this question but she could feel from the tension that was oozing from his body that she was not going to be able to; he would get the answer out of her whatever it took. "Clark didn't have a date and wasn't even going to come for a while, I wanted to convince him to come and Lois was meant to be travelling down too and we were all going to have a sort of friends end of high school dance party".

Lex looked sadly down at her. "Lana decided to come", it wasn't a question.

"Yeah, and Lois didn't. But it's good, I'm happy for them", she did her best to cover up her bruised sentiments. It was silly really, it was just a party and she had never really thought that Clark might finally see her and fall in love with her.

"If there is anyone in the world selfless enough for that to be true, you're probably her", Lex said as his palm traced slow calming circles across her back.

"I don't know how selfless I am", Chloe said, still thinking about what she had let Lex endure for her pride, and what she had almost done to Clark when she had teamed up with Lionel.

"I do", there was a moment of unease. "So, if you hadn't broken if off what would you have been doing with him? I mean, 7:30 until 10pm is quite short for a night out, there must have been more to the plan than that", he said marvelling at how short Smallville High's prom was. "Was he going to take you out afterwards?"

"Um … yeah. We were going to drive into Metropolis and have dinner", she answered him uncomfortably, hoping that he would leave it at that and that he didn't know about certain post-prom traditions.

"Nice to hear that the boy had some romance in him", Lex said, looking over at him. "Football player?"

"Yeah, quarter back now that Clark quit", Chloe informed him, forgetting that that was all over now. They were about to graduate so he couldn't be the quarterback any longer.

"You could do better", he informed her.

"Sure", she said, but not with a lot great deal of conviction, "but it would have been nice to be the perfect girl for the night", she sounded a little sad.

"Well you have come to the prom, got the crown, you're doing a bit of dancing now", he reminded this of her by spinning her around as the music changed, "I think that I can manage to get you to Metropolis for some dinner at somewhere much nicer than he could afford". Finally his opening had arrived.

"You don't have to do that", she told him laughing as they twirled. She had not even known that she knew how to dance like that until Lex had taken her in his arms.

"I want to", Lex was firm. "Can't be outdone, where was he going to take you?" He imagined some little out of the way restaurant with a low price tag that the boy had mistakenly thought he could impress Chloe with.

"Metropolis Plaza", Chloe informed him, her eyes going back over to the two dancing couples who had been occupying her thoughts throughout the night.

Lex let out a low whistle, "I think that you are lucky that you dropped him then, you only go to dinner there if you are planning on spending the night, and it is certainly out of his price range so he was probably looking at it as an investment". He didn't add that he could buy the entire Plaza chain and give it to her as a graduation present without feeling the pinch; he was too bothered by the thought of that footballer trying to take advantage of Chloe's trusting innocence. She couldn't have known what it was so obvious to Lex he had had planned, could she?

Chloe said nothing.

That was when something occurred to Lex. "If you and he were planning on going up to Metropolis and he was obviously planning on spending the night there but your cousin who you could otherwise have stayed with was supposed to be coming down here … how and when were you planning on coming back?" He watched her flush pink. "Oh", was all that he said, as he tried to calm himself down.

He wasn't sure whether he should be happy or furious. Over the years he had had plenty of fantasies in which Chloe Sullivan played the starring role and she had always seemed to have a slightly more knowing way about her than most of the other girls her age but he had always just put that down to his imagination. He didn't want her to be a snow white virgin who knew nothing of men, because if she were then that made his feelings for her so much worse, so he had always just figured that he had unwittingly imbued her with desires that she probably didn't have. He was very pleased to be proved wrong, but the idea that that pillock had been the one she had almost chosen to indulge in such pleasures with made him see red.

"Didn't take you for a prude Lex", her forced a teasing note into her tone. For reasons which she didn't want to dwell on she really hoped that Lex wasn't one of those men who thought that it was alright for them to go around sewing their wild oats while the girls had to be devoid of any and all passion … until their wedding night when they were suddenly meant to somehow know everything that they top whores did.

"I'm not, I just didn't realise that you were dating him", he said the first thing that came into his head.

"I'm not", she admitted. She didn't know why, but she felt that she owed him an explanation. "We have known each other for a while though and I decided that I wanted to take control of my life. I wanted to have the perfect prom night and not go to college the same Chloe Sullivan".

Lex nodded slightly, understanding the situation. He was going to have been her first. Lex didn't think that he had ever been so grateful to Clark and his bloody Lana fixation before in his life. Knowing that he would need to tread especially carefully now, he started, "I like the same Chloe Sullivan".

Before he could get much further, the song changed to a pop one and Chloe grimaced.

"You aren't a big fan of Britney Spears?" He asked jokingly, unable to stop himself from responding to her animated face.

"Not really no", Chloe answered, not mentioning the entire summer she had spent doing the Baby One More Time dance routine when the song had first come out and that her grimace had been from the memory of her making a prat of herself all summer long and the distain of her cousin, rather than because she didn't like the song.

"Want to get out of here?" Lex asked, sensing that the time was right. "I have a helicopter on the roof, we could be in the city in 30 minutes, go to the best restaurant in the city …"

He heard a snort from behind him and a turned to look at Chloe's former date and the cheerleader on his arm – she wasn't wearing her uniform, but he could still tell.

"We're just off now", he informed Chloe. "I'm not that fond of cherries anyway".

Chloe went scarlet as she got the reference and ended up looking not unlike said fruit.

Lex had clearly also understood and looked about ready to beat the man to death but Chloe held his hands and asked, "Are you ready to go?" She hadn't actually made a decision to go with Lex – she couldn't just fly off with him to Metropolis, that was absurd -, she just knew that she had to get him out of there before he ended up all over the front page of the papers for having assaulted a teenager.

"Whenever you are baby", he replied, pulling her even closer to him, if such a thing were possible considering how closely they had drawn together without realising it, as they were dancing. He had instantly realised what was going on and knew that she didn't want him to make a scene. Well that was fine, just as long as he was getting what he wanted. He would take her anyway that he could have her and if this was what it took to get her to Metropolis he would save his plans of revenge of later.

She looked up at him beseechingly and he couldn't help but wonder how far she would allow him to go if it kept him from drawing attention to them and the fact that he was still firmly on the verge of mutilating one of her former classmates. She hadn't corrected him when he had called her baby. He ran his hand lower down her back and again she didn't object. He smirked as he wondered how she would take a little more PDA.

Chloe licked her lips, as a thrill shot through her. She knew that it was wrong to feel like this. She had no right to be attracted to Lex or to be relishing the look of shock on her almost lover's face but she couldn't help herself. Or rather, she probably could have helped herself, but she really didn't want to. She was in the arms of Lex Luthor and he seemed to be willing to help make the footballer jealous so she might as well make the most of what she imaged would be her one and only chance.

Satisfied that Lex wasn't going to hit anyone, Chloe removed her hands from his and tucked one of her hands into the crook of his arm.

Lex smiled at Chloe's method of taking the initiative and once again wondered just how far he could push this. Never one to ignore opportunity when it came knocking; he ran his thumb over her full lower lip.

Chloe reacted, parting her lips slightly. She couldn't have pulled back even if she had wanted to; she was too enthralled by the predatory glint in his eyes as he leant in and brushed her lips gently with his own.

There kiss lasted only a few seconds, but as he pulled back Lex was pleased to note that she looked a little dazed. He used that to his advantage placing his hand over hers and escorting her out of the room before she could come to her senses and object.

Lex noted with no inconsiderable degree of satisfaction that her former date was looking after them incredulously. Somehow no one else had noticed but even if they had the billionaire wouldn't have minded. He was going to give Chloe the perfect prom night … and destroy the football player while he was at it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Lex led Chloe out of the gym and through the school's corridors relieved that there didn't seem to be anyone else about (they must have all still been in the gym), as the last thing that he wanted was for someone to address Chloe and bring her out of the stupor into which his kiss seemed to have sent her. He tried not to let his anxiety show as he hurried her up to the rooftop, all the while keeping her hand tucked in the crook of his arm. He knew that if he could just get her into the helicopter that he would get everything that he wanted but if she refused … well it didn't bare thinking about.

As the cool night air hit them Chloe seemed to come back to herself a little. "Uh, Lex", she started.

He panicked, that was the only word for it which was utterly ridiculous as Lex Luthor did not panic. He had never panicked in his entire life, - not even when he had gone up against his father - but the idea that he might miss his shot with Chloe was enough to make him crazy and break out into a cold sweat.

There was no way that he was going to be left alone again, ethics be damned. As she started to pull her hand out of his, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and grasped her wrist gently but firmly trying to make it seem like that was just something normal that he did when walking beside a woman rather than letting her see the truth - that he was manhandling her into his helicopter to take her away to Metropolis where he could take her out and then repeatedly ravish her.

Chloe looked confused as he pushed her along but didn't pull away from him until they were only a few steps away from his chopper. Lex kept hold of her wrist, even as she turned to face him and he yanked the door open, - his pilot was already in the machine and ready for take-off.

"Lex what are we doing?" She wondered, the fog clearing from her brain enough for her to realise that this wasn't normal. This couldn't be right, she had just been sitting at her prom bored to tears and miserable and then suddenly Lex was there and they were dancing, then kissing then … this. She wasn't complaining, but this wasn't normal.

"We are getting into the helicopter", he announced, deciding to take charge in true Luthor style. She looked like she was about to back out, if she did he wasn't certain that he would be able to talk her back into it. He had learnt a long time ago that it was always better to beg for forgiveness rather than ask permission – especially when they were locked in a small cabin together hundreds of feet above the ground with nowhere she could run. Although, he didn't think that he would mind facing down and trying to pacify an angry Chloe; he believed that he would be able to beg very persuasively for forgiveness in those conditions, on his knees if Chloe really wished. He placed his hands under her arms and lifted her back into the cabin, following her in before she could protest and closing and locking the door.

"We are ready for take-off", he informed the pilot.

"Lex, what are you doing?" Chloe asked as he strapped her into the chair and then did the same to himself and the engine whirred to life. It didn't matter if she protested now, it was too late.

"I'm taking you to Metropolis as we agreed", he said casually, as if he had no idea what she could possibly be angry about.

She looked at him incredulously. She couldn't fathom what was going on. She remembered his offer but part of her had thought that it was a joke, but even if it weren't she couldn't accept it. It was simply too much. She had agreed but only to make her footballer jealous and to stop Lex from pummelling him, he had to know that right? Why had he put her into the aircraft? Hell, since when did Lex manhandle? Since when did she allow something like that to happen? Since when did she kind of like it?

"We didn't actually agree", she pointed out. "Lex, you don't have to do this".

"I know that I don't have to", he said as he body argued that point furiously, "but I want to. Now, sit back and relax".

"Lex …"

"I'm not letting you go Chloe", his voice was stern. "So sit back and relax or argue with me if you want but either way is not going to make a difference".

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him, a look which she had perfected in her bathroom mirror after seeing Lex do it for the first time and longing to be able to do it. The practice had paid off.

"You are very sure of yourself", she commented. She should have been furious and normally she would have been but there was something about the way Lex said it, the way he sat back in his chair, the way her skin still tingled from where he had touched her, the way his scent filled the confined space.

"I try", he said noticing her impression of him with a smirk.

Chloe felt somewhere a little south of her stomach flutter as he smirked, but ever in search of a logical explanation put it down to the movement of the helicopter.

"Often kidnap girls on their prom nights?" She asked.

"I wouldn't say often", he said with another smirk, "although normally I don't have to kidnap women, as you put it".

"Really? You do surprise me", her tone and posture reeked of hauteur.

He raised an eyebrow at the blatant display of displeasure she was putting on for his benefit, which lead him to believe that she was not actually that angry. "I seem to remember you being a little more pliant earlier", he teased her. It wasn't as if she could storm off now.

"Yes, well I was distracted", she admitted sulkily, trying not to blush.

"Really? I wonder what distracted you so much", he leant over so that his hot breath tickled her.

"I … don't remember", she lied unconvincingly.

He grinned and caressed her cheek gently, before leaning even closer as if he were about to kiss her.

"Lex", she breathed his name, before asking, "what are you doing?" God, she wanted to kiss him, but she needed to know what was going on.

"Getting a better view", he said huskily. He undid his seatbelt now that they were in the air and bent over so that his arms were on either side of her, trapping her. His lips were only a few inches away from hers now.

"Always been into star gazing have you?" She tried to ignore the way that he was looking at her and the way that it made her tingle.

The smile he gave her at that made her heart melt, "Sure the view out of the window. That is what I was talking about."

Chloe turned her head to look out of the window, hoping that not being able to see him would make the feelings she was experiencing die down, it didn't work. The sensations only increased as Lex informed her huskily about the names of the stars that they could see, their histories; his voice was hypnotic although she couldn't really focus on his words. He ran his fingers through her hair and down the back of her neck, onto her shoulder and then down her back. His other hand was ostensibly indicating the stars out of the window but then moved to wrap itself around her stomach, pulling her back into him.

She nuzzled back into his warmth automatically.

"God you smell incredible", he growled into her ear.

"Lex, please stop this", she begged him weakly, knowing that she wouldn't be strong enough to stop him if he kissed her or touched her more right then.

"You don't want to go to Metropolis? You don't want to have dinner or go dancing? You don't want to have the prom night you deserve? Tell me what you want and I will give it to you", he purred, running his hand over his shoulder and down her arm.

"I want to know why you are doing this", she repeated for the … actually she had forgotten how many times she had asked him that, but she was quite sure that it had been a few. She didn't dare ask how far he was planning on taking the prom night thing, just in case he hadn't been implying anything by that and thought her presumptuous.

"Doing what? This?" He stroked her hair, allowing his fingers to tangle in her golden tress and watching with rapt attention as she moved her head back into his hands. Her body clearly wanted him, even if her mind didn't.

"Or this", he massaged her neck and shoulders gently feeling her relax under his touch, which was saying something as she was incredibly tense … he was going to have to remember to do something about that later. Damn, he needed something to distract his mouth from saying something stupid and giving away some of the thoughts that that had conjured up.

"Or this?" He asked as he nibbled her earlobe.

"All of it", she gasped, no man had ever done anything like this to her before. "Why are you acting like you care?"

"Because I do", he told her seriously.

Chloe considered his words for a second, she had always thought that Lex had been disappointed with her after last year and that he had stopped thinking about her at all soon after that. The idea that he cared about her was amazing, wonderful but completely unbelievable … and yet when Lex said it for some reason she found herself believing him implicitly.

There was silence for a few minutes as it all sank in.

"You know it is a little chilly in here", she informed him.

"Sorry, I should have thought of that earlier", he said, although he didn't think that it was actually cold at all. He tried to pull back to remove his suit jacket and hand it to her.

"No", she said pulling him back closer to her, "just put your arms around me", she instructed him.

"That I can do", he smiled as he wrapped his around her and nuzzled her neck.

After a few more moments of silence Lex could practically hear her brain whirring, at first he thought that it was the helicopter but then he was sure that it was her brain. "A million dollar for your thoughts", he offered.

"They aren't worth that much", she smiled.

"I'll be the judge of that. Come on", he gave her an encouraging squeeze.

"I wanted to say that I was sorry for what happened last year", she murmured.

"What are you talking about?" He turned her face towards him; the scene outside the window had lost all interest for him.

"Last year. I got myself in trouble, then I came to you and you got me out of it. I'm sorry that it happened", Chloe said her eyes still fixed on the window even though her head was turned.

"Look at me Chloe", he commanded and she obeyed, hating herself for being so weak.

"I never blamed you for any of that. You were jerked around by Clark, I never agreed with the way that he treated you and while we both know that what you did wasn't right it was understandable and you did the right thing in telling me the truth", he thumbed her cheek.

"You seemed really angry at the time", she pointed out. She had never before talked to anyone about what had happened that day.

"Chloe, how could you have been so fucking stupid?" Lex roared.

"I … I don't know", Chloe said, trying to remain strong.

"What the fuck do you mean that you have been working with my father but then he turned against you?" He demanded. He had been having a relatively quiet day, just sitting in his office working when his father had called him and asked/told him to fire Gabe Sullivan. Lex had called Clark immediately to see if he knew what any of this was about but Clark had said that had wasn't aware that the Sullivans and Lionel had any contact at all and so couldn't work it out and Chloe hadn't told him about anything. Lex had sighed, clearly his father was back up to his old tricks and Lex's favourite blonde/pain-in-the-butt reporter was somehow mixed up in it. Why did that not surprise him?

He had thought of going straight to the Smallville High and cornering Chloe there but he thought that that might be too obvious (and he didn't know if his father was having him, or her, or both of them watched) so he had had order Clark to bring Chloe straight over to the mansion after school. This was the only place safe enough to speak freely and it wasn't all that unusual for Chloe to accompany Clark on his trips.

Thank goodness Clark had actually brought her over earlier because they had several free periods and he thought that Chloe seemed agitated. From what Lex gathered as they walked in, Clark had not told Chloe that it was Lex who wanted the meeting; he could hear her asking, "Come on Clark, what is the mystery. You told me that you would tell when we got here. What's going on?"

"That is just what I was about to ask you, Miss Sullivan", Lex said, leaning back in his chair.

He could see her visibly pale and gulp. He raised an eyebrow before getting up and walking over to them. "You can leave us now Clark".

Chloe looked after Clark in panic as he left but Lex would not be deterred by that, he would know all. Within a very short time he had got her to blurt out that she thought that she was in serious trouble and that he was the only one who could help her, but she had stalled at the rest of her story.

"Answer my question Chloe", he growled, "What do you mean that you have been working with my father and that he turned against you?"

"Pretty much what I said", she got out, willing herself not to take a step backwards or start to shake. She didn't want to come here in the first place but now that she was there she couldn't think of any way out of this problem, unless Lex was willing to help.

"Alright", he said trying to calm down, that wasn't going to do him any good. She was clearly terrified and the fact that she didn't fall into his arms as most women would have impressed him, but by God he wanted her in his arms.

"Come on, sit down", he said wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her over to the settee and making sure that she was settled before moving to the drinks cabinet and getting the decanters of scotch and soda and two glasses, he had a feeling that they were going to need them.

Once he was sat back down next to her and poured himself a double scotch and a single scotch and soda for Chloe, no sense in giving her anything too strong.

"Here", he passed her the drink and said, "I know that you aren't old enough yet, but what the hell. Sounds like legality is the least of your worries".

"Thank-you", Chloe said, taking a sip of her drink, it burnt her throat but it was a relief to feel something there other than the knot that had been there for over a week.

"Start from the beginning", he advised her as he placed his hand on her back. He saw her hesitate, "Whatever it is Chloe, whatever you have done I will help you but I have to know the truth … all of it".

She took another gulp of the amber liquid; it wasn't quite so bad this time. "Last summer I started to work with you father, researching Clark", she said. She didn't get into the why or the how, there were no excuses for what she had done and she fully expected to be dismissed and left to her fate after she told him that.

Lex raised an eyebrow at that, but all he said was, "Go on".

"I was supposed to be researching Clark and at first it went really well. I already had loads of information that I had collected before and which Lionel already knew so it couldn't hurt Clark", she remembered her folly with tears sparkling in her eyes.

"What did he offer you in return", Lex asked.

"Everything", was her simple answer. "New computers for The Torch, my Dad got a promotion which paid enough to buy a new very fancy house, and I got a column at The Daily Planet. On top of that, there was talk of scholarships when it came time for University". She wished that she didn't have to tell him any of this.

"So he made you completely dependent on him, then he asked for more?" Lex could tell exactly what had happened just from looking at her face. This was classic Lionel. Chloe must really have been desperate and miserable to have fallen for it; he would have to talk to Clark about taking better care of her.

Chloe nodded, "He wanted more information on Clark".

"And you didn't give it to him", Lex supplied for her. "Then he started to threaten you to bring you back into line?"

"Yes, and last night it got worse", several tears trickled down her cheeks as she relived the experience. Lex's hands clenched into fists as he saw the tears, if Lionel had laid one finger on her he would be dead before the day was out. "He told me that he would get rid of everything, that Dad would be left as nothing more than a dishwasher".

Lex breathed a sigh of relief. Those kinds of threats he could deal with, he focused on his anger towards Lionel and not on Chloe, he wanted so badly to reach out a wipe those tears away but he knew that he couldn't do that.

"What was your response?" He asked, already knowing that answer; she had refused.

"I told him no. I had suspected that it might come to this", she admitted, "but I didn't think that he would go after my Dad, just me".

Lex snorted at her naivety; Lionel would know that Gabe was her weakness and that attacking him would be the best way to bring Chloe to her knees. Bugger that was not an image that he needed.

"I have being researching your father and thought that if I could find out enough dirt on him then I could blackmail him into leaving us alone", Chloe said sadly staring at her hands.

"Well that was stupid, brave but stupid", Lex said mildly as he took a sip of his scotch. He wanted to look in control; he couldn't be Chloe's rock if he showed emotions. At that moment she needed someone she could depend on, someone strong not someone with feelings and weakness like any other. For her he could, he would be a superhero.

"I know", she whispered.

"I am going to fire Gabe like my father wants", he said easily, "you and he are going to go through a terrible couple of months being scared of losing everything and I am not going to do a thing to help you … on the surface of things. You will hand over all of the information you have on my father to me and will be compensated accordingly, let's say the amount of money that your father would have made had he been working at his new job during his upcoming period of unemployment".

Chloe looked up at him, hope filling her eyes.

"You have a college fund I assume, that will be enough to get you through these few months and then the balance will be redressed at the end of that period. Any harm done to your father's reputation or yours during that time will be remedied afterwards by my explaining that you were working for me the entire time when your father comes back to the company in his managerial position", Lex spoke with quiet authority. "I told you that I would take care of this and I meant it".

"What about Clark?" Chloe wondered.

"He doesn't have to know anything", Lex assured her. "If the truth does come out at some point I will tell him that Lionel approached you to ask you to research him and that you came straight to me not sure how to deal with my father and that I told you to give him information that he already had so that we could see if there were any type of threat to Clark there. I will take full responsibility if he is angry about it".

"Why would you do something like that?" Chloe wondered.

He couldn't say because he couldn't bear to see her so upset, and so he answered, "Because Clark is my friend but he will never truly trust me, he trusts you and I would hate to see him disappointed in you. That is more than anyone should have to bear".

"I wasn't angry … well that isn't true. I was furious but that was because I was worried about you and scared about what my father might do to you", he kissed her cheek. "Listen Chloe, I want to give you what I think should be the best night of your life so far but it you don't trust me, if you are afraid that I am going to try to take advantage of you …"

"I'm not", she assured him.

Lex smirked; he had known that that would get to her. He hadn't been sure about how she felt about him before that night, but now he knew that she trusted him - if she hadn't she would never have leant into his touch earlier. If she trusted him she would want to prove it and it might be wrong (scratch that, it definitely was wrong) but he would use that to manipulate her into staying with him that night. He knew that there was no way that she would back out now, not if she thought that doing so would be a sign of her lack of faith in him.

"Manipulative bastard", she muttered knowing exactly what he had been up to.

Lex grinned at her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"So, does size impress you?" Lex couldn't resist asking Chloe as they walked into the garden room restaurant of the Metropolis Plaza. He could have taken her back to his apartment and had the dinner brought over – which is what he would have preferred, rather than having to share her with everyone – but he knew that that wasn't part of the traditional prom night experience, so he had booked them a private table, in addition to a suite for the night. He was used to the grandeur of places like this but he was aware of the impact it had on most women and was eager to see Chloe's response.

"Of course", she smirked over at him, "everything is more satisfying when it is larger, wouldn't you agree Lex?"

Lex was glad that he hadn't been drinking anything at that moment or he would probably have spat it out at the smirk she had given him, followed by the incredibly sweet innocent look … which he didn't buy it for a second.

"Well I certainly appreciate size in certain attributes", his gaze wandered down to her chest. It was really very nice.

"But really", Chloe continued, trying desperately to ignore the look he was giving her and the feelings it stirred with in her. "It is more about the quality. I mean, size is useless if you don't know what to do with it", she let his hang on her words for a minute before saying, "But looking around here they know what to do with it, the place is decorated in such a lovely manner".

He smiled. "I'm glad that you approve. There is another dining room which is a little larger and more opulent, gold leaf all over the place etc., but I thought that you would be more comfortable here".

"You didn't think that you could elevate me too much, huh Lex?" She joked.

"No", he protested too loudly, reaching across the table to her, "nothing like that. If you want to go into the other dining room then we will go there. If you want the entire building then …"

"Lex, it's alright", she put her hands over his. "I was only joking. I know that you wouldn't have brought me here at all if you were ashamed of me."

He didn't look fully convinced.

She leant out and caressed the side of his face; he looked so young and lost in that moment, she couldn't resist comforting him. She felt protective, that was it. That had to be what made her share her feelings at that moment. "Actually, I thought that it was really sweet of you to bring me to the more beautiful of the two rather than the more opulent one, just because you can. Mic … the other boy I was with, he was going to take me to the other one, he insisted on showing me the brochure and highlighting the fact that he was taking me to the largest one for dinner, as if that would somehow guarantee him", she trailed off. "Anyway …" she tried to cover up what she had almost let slip. "I just wanted to say that I appreciate beauty over status".

"So do I", he agreed taking her hand in his, "it's good that you didn't end up with him, I don't think that you would have had a very enjoyable night".

There were so many answers to that statement, unfortunately most of them would have revealed far more about her than she was willing to at that moment. She certainly wasn't about to tell him that she didn't expect pleasure from a sexual union - she just wanted it over and done with -, or anything else about her feelings on the subject for that matter. So she just gave him a forced smile, "I don't think that he would have lasted the night, do you?"

Lex knew that she was using humour as a shield but decided to allow it for now. He looked her up and down openly and answered honestly, "No, I think that he would have come in his pants just seeing you in your underwear".

"You don't know what I look like in my underwear", she pointed out, trying to ignore the way that her body reacted to his gaze. If she hadn't been so accustomed to thinking of herself as the ugly duckling's chubby little cousin she would have believed him and wanted to prove him right.

"I have a vivid imagination", he raised her fingers to his lips and gently kissed them.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a terrible flirt Lex?" She asked, trying to calm her breathing and not let him see that he was getting to her. This was Lex Luthor after all; he probably flirted with everyone like this. He probably flirted even more with girls who looked like Lana, if not actually Lana, if this was even flirting. Chloe couldn't be sure. Maybe this was just how men normally acted around girls and she just wasn't used to it and he was just feeling sorry for her. Bloody hell, his eyes were gorgeous.

"Actually usually people tell me that I am a very good flirt", he tried to keep his tone light.

"Really Lex? People? Not just women? I have to say that I am surprised, but I suppose that a lot of things make more sense now", she found her snark. She was always more comfortable with snark, rather than real emotions. Snark was a nice warm blanket to cuddle up to … when you didn't have anyone, possibly because of the snark. It was a vicious cycle.

"My my Miss Sullivan, are you attempting to provoke me?" He deliberately made his voice low and dangerous, enjoying the powerful thrill which shot through him as he watched her shiver.

"Maybe", she said before she could consider her words.

Lex's grin spread even wider as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer; there was no harm in giving her a few spoilers of what the night could hold in store for them.

Her breath quickened and she felt a tug between her legs which frightened her, she had to kill the mood. "Or maybe I was being completely serious. You know Lex, being gay isn't something to be ashamed of anymore. I know that your father wouldn't understand but …"

"Go and sit down", he ordered her gruffly, his mood ruined. Chloe pulled faces at him when she thought that no one but him was watching as they were led over to a private table, surrounded by plants. She hadn't actually meant to offend him; she just hadn't wanted him to kiss her then. Mostly because she wasn't sure that she would have been able to refrain from begging him to take her right then and there if he had.

Lex tried not to respond to her silly faces until they were sat down and had ordered drinks. Chloe raised the menu to cover her from view and the stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know, I'm sure that I can find a quiet corner to drag you into to thoroughly chastise you", he said as if it were a threat, trying to maintain a dower expression when he really wanted to laugh. He took a sip of his drink, and noted that as normal it was very good.

Timing her response so that he was just swallowing as she spoke, Chloe batted her eyelashes in a, completely feigned, mixture of innocence and horror. "But Lex, whoever told you that I was into that?"

He choked, as she had known he would. She loved that fact that she could get the upper hand with Lex Luthor, occasionally.

"I beg your pardon", he said between coughs.

"I asked", Chloe lowered her voice and leant across the table so that he could still hear her, "who told you that I was into that?"

Lex had a very stern talk with himself at that. She was just playing with him, he knew that and yet his traitorous body refused to believe it. It wouldn't believe that Chloe was just leading it on without any hope of relief.

Chloe grinned from ear to ear, unable to keep up her pretence of being a femme fatale. She had heard that line years ago in the film Heart Breakers which she had been watching with Lois and had made a note to use it if the occasion ever arose, well now it finally had. That was one off her list of smart ass comments to make, only about 200 more to go before she died – otherwise she would have a lot to get through on her deathbed.

"Damn it Chloe don't you know not to tease a man like that, it could get you in trouble, you know", he tried to be part of the joke.

"Oh please I've been pushed up against a wall by bigger guys that you", she played with her menu so that she could avoid making eye contact with him, she would never be able to make this stick if she looked at him directly.

"Who?" Lex demanded.

"Honestly Lex anyone would think that you were jealous", she taunted him. Now he would back off, looking offended at best or at worst he would make an 'in your dreams' comment and then they would be back to normal.

"Who?" He repeated the demand, this time taking the menu off her so that she had nothing to hide behind.

Her eyes snapped over to his face as if he controlled them rather than her. Therein he noted shock and a little confusion but that did not stop him from staring her down until she answered his question. "Clark. We were trying to work out how you knocked off Eve's earring", she explained. Feeling a little stupid now for trying to make it seem like something more.

"Well played Miss Sullivan, well played", Lex complimented, effectively letting her off the hook. He wanted to tease her about it and he would, but only after he had bedded her, - too much teasing of a non-sexual nature before that she leave her too tense to do anything.

He held out the menu to her, "But you know I don't think that Clark can do my moves justice, if you want a real demonstration …"

"I should go to the source", Chloe finished for him with a sweet smile, "But I think that Lionel is still in prison". She froze. Bugger, she was stupid around him. The desire to win their little match had made her lose her common sense.

Lex froze, he really didn't want to hear his father's name at that time, especially not coming out of Chloe's mouth in that context. He knew that his father had stolen his girls before, he tried to breathe deeply. Chloe didn't know that and judging by her face she was clearly sorry.

"I didn't …" she tried to explain herself.

"You know Chloe, the possibility of you getting chastised in some dark corner somewhere is becoming increasingly likely. In fact, I think that I have got the choice down to two corners I'm rather fond of", his tone was controlled.

"Oh", was all that she said, as she couldn't think of anything else to say.

He handed the menu back to her and said, "Order whatever you like."

"Thank-you", she replied taking the menu from him and trying to work out how to get back to where they had been just a few minutes before, before her monumental slip up. "So, what would you recommend?" She asked.

"The steak is very good, if you like that sort of thing. As is the chocolate mousse", he thought about it for a few seconds.

"Alright then", Chloe placed the menu down, "I'll have that". Chloe never allowed other people to order for her, she always said that it was a ridiculous practice and if she was going to put something in her mouth she was going to choose what it was. But she had to do something to show Lex that she was sorry and this seemed like a big gesture to her, although of course if Lex didn't know about her distain for letting other people choose her food then it wouldn't mean much to him.

Lex smiled at her. "You are really going to let me order for you?"

Chloe nodded.

"I wouldn't have thought that you were that kind of young lady", he said, treading carefully.

"I'm not", she assured him. He seemed to get the implication. Lex called over the waiter and ordered for both of them, along with some wine.

"So what were we talking about?" He asked, even though he remembered their conversation perfectly well.

"Clark's inability to match up to you", she supplied helpfully. Yes, that was a much better topic of conversation than her monumental cock up.

"Ah yes, excellent", he looked distinctly smug.

"Sexually that is", she added, giving him her cheekiest smile.

"That is the only way that really matters, although I think that I am also a lot sneakier than he is", he appeared to be giving the matter a great deal of thought.

"I wouldn't bet on in", Chloe muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" He asked, thinking that he had heard exactly what she had said. Actually, certain that he had heard. He had always known that Clark had a secret and it didn't surprise him that Chloe now knew it. He felt betrayed that he had been kept in the dark and considered trying to pump her for information but then he thought better of it. If the choice was between getting to the bottom of the mystery that was Clark Kent and getting between Chloe's legs well … it wasn't really a choice as far as Lex was concerned.

"I said that I wouldn't bet on you being better than Clark sexually", Chloe tried to cover up her slip.

He smirked, "I think that I have decided upon my favourite corner for your impending chastisement".

"Alright", Chloe stood up and sashayed around the table to him, taking her time and watching his reaction to her. She had decided that she wasn't going to let herself be intimidated by him, he was clearly all talk and no trousers and she was going to prove it. She would be the one to make Lex Luthor back down for once.

"I beg your pardon".

"I said", she leant down so that she could whisper in his ear, and noted that his attention was glued to the sight of the cleavage which was now revealed to him. "Alright. Let's go". She ran a finger around Lex's collar. "Let's find that corner you're so fond of".

Before Lex could work out whether she was joking – he figured that she had to be, but she had a very good poker face – their meal arrived and Chloe went to sit back down delighted by her success, she had made Lex Luthor tongue tied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"It's green", was Chloe's only comment as her soup arrived.

"Yes it is, it's based on the That's Amore Ai Cinque Colori Soup they sell in Italy", Lex informed her casually. He had known what her reaction would be when he ordered if for her, which was the main reason for doing it. He had also briefly considered escargot but he did actually want to give her something that she would like, on top of freaking her out. He was used to empty gestures, he didn't think that Chloe had made one but he wanted her to prove it. She had allowed him to order for her, she should eat up her dinner.

"It's green", she repeated poking it with her spoon.

"Glad to see that your reporter's eye is as keen as ever", he teased her. The scowl on her face was adorable.

"There's spinach in it, isn't there?" She asked, knowing that she was going to have to eat it.

"Yes, and lots of it. It's good for you", he couldn't resist adding.

"Yeah yeah", she muttered, giving the thick, green liquid another doubtful poke, wondering if it contained meteor rocks.

It was just on the tip of his tongue to tell her that she didn't actually have to eat it if she really didn't want to and he would let her order something else when – after obviously stealing herself – she took a big spoonful and swallowed it down.

"Good girl", he praised her, trying not to laugh too much.

"It's not bad", she commented smiling and taking another spoonful, "in fact, it's actually quite nice".

"I did choose something that I thought you might actually like. I'm not cruel all of the time, you know", he said, not sure whether he should be offended by her unintentional insinuation.

"I know", she said, as she broke off a piece of her _wholemeal_ bread roll. It wasn't bad either, she was getting good at this healthy eating thing.

"Have you ever tried vegetables before?" He asked, amused by her reaction. "They are quite nice you know".

Chloe reached for the menu to hide her face from the rest of the room so that she could stick her tongue out at him again, before saying, "I know. I have tried vegetables before".

"Yeah French fries don't count", he scoffed.

"I didn't know that you knew such things existed", she threw back.

"Gabe didn't make you eat your greens as a child?" He asked, unable to imagine a childhood where you didn't have to clean your plate before being let up from the table.

"Not ones I didn't like, no", Chloe answered, a little more strongly than was actually necessary. She didn't like any implication that her father might not have done everything perfectly. Chloe would maintain to her dying day that her father was the perfect Daddy and that his child rearing technique was flawless … even the hole he had burnt in her ballet leotard when he had tried to iron it.

"And you didn't like greens?" He was trying to get a view of what Chloe was like as a child. One thing that he knew about her which had probably been part of her personality since she was a tot was that she was fiercely protective of her father.

"No", she screwed up her face. She really hated broccoli and remembered a fight she had had with her mother a few days before she had left over her refusal to consume boiled broccoli. Chloe had finally won by throwing it at Moira in frustration because she was being so horrible to Chloe. She wouldn't have dared acted like that if her Daddy had been home – Moira that is, not Chloe. "You know", she addressed, "most people rather conveniently ignore the fact that potatoes and cauliflower have more iron in them than broccoli does".

"There is broccoli in that soup", he informed her. "You might what to try some of the green vegetables again, your tastes change as you get older", he said. Not missing that she had told him that she had got enough iron as a child.

"Gabe wasn't strict, I take it. I can't imagine him being", he thought about how differently his life might have turned out if he had had such a loving and supportive father.

"No, but he didn't have to be. I wanted to make him happy. I always did my homework, got good grades and stuff like that. As a child I even kept my bedroom tidy", she remembered that her father had almost seemed happy when she had turned into a mucky pup and used her floor as a closet, it had proved that she had finally realised that she didn't have to earn the right to be part of their family. "The only thing I wouldn't do was eat". She wasn't sure why she had shared that much with him.

Lex nodded, understandingly. He knew from Clark that Chloe's mom had left when she was five and he could only imagine how the man had had to try to cope with a five year old. It made sense that he would just be relieved that she was eating something, whatever it was. He had noticed before that Chloe's eating patterns seemed to fluctuate a great deal, he wondered if that was something that came from her mother's abandonment, it was something he would have to keep an eye on when she went off to University.

"I refused to eat just after my mother died too", he said.

Chloe looked over at him in interest. It was unlike Lex to offer such a personal detail.

"I was away at school when she died, I knew that she had been sick for just over a year before she passed and I had tried to get back as much as possible but … I could have done more. I should have done more." He looked over at her, "The difference is that while I really didn't do enough, I'm sure that you were perfect".

"I don't know about that", Chloe voiced her greatest fear, "I mean if your mother stops loving you, or never loved you to start with, that's not good. I'm sure that I was naughty …"

"Well you see I happen to know that you were an angel at that age", Lex contradicted her.

She looked at him sceptically.

"Gabe told me. Well, not just me actually. Everyone he comes into contact with pretty much knows every moment of your life from your first green poo", he informed her.

"Oh God, he doesn't tell that story does he?" She asked, although it was stupid as if he was mentioning it then her father must have told him.

"Oh yes. We all know about the first day he got you home from the hospital, went to change you and discovered an enormous green poo and had to rush you to the doctor's thinking that something was wrong … only to find out that that was normal", Lex delighted in the colour she turned, "however not being able to accept that you were normal, he is now claiming that it was possibly the biggest ever …"

"Don't", Chloe warned him and he grinned at her.

"So you see, I know that you have nothing to feel guilty about", he popped one of the items on his plate into his mouth.

"It never occurred to you that my father might be the tiniest big biased?" She wondered.

"Oh no, I'm sure that it was just as en…"

"Lex", she cut him off causing him to smirk at her. He loved being able to get a reaction out of her.

"He also tells the story of you throwing some broccoli at your mother when she screamed at you", he said, watching her carefully to gage her reaction. The truth was that Gabe did not tell that story to everyone, that had been told in confident to a therapist which Lex made all of the high-ish ranking members of the plant see so that he could keep an eye on them. He had laughed when he heard the story, but he had not missed the tension in Gabe's voice. He was furious that his wife had mistreated their baby although he was proud of Chloe's reaction to such treatment.

Chloe looked at him oddly, "I didn't know that he would tell that story. He came home a few minutes later and comforted me, told me that I didn't have to eat broccoli if I didn't want to but if I started throwing food again that I would be going onto the naughty step. I thought that he was ashamed of me". She lost her appetite at that. Had that day been the reason why Moira had left?

Then she thought for a moment, desperate for something to distract her from that sad trip down memory lane. "What made you start eating again?"

"The sister of a friend of mine came to visit him at Excelsior", he didn't mention that it had been his only friend. "I had met her a couple of times before but when she came that time she was extra nice for the first couple of days, then she snapped. She shouted at me", he smiled at the memory, "she told me that I was being a selfish jerk torturing myself like that and how did I think that her brother felt and that my mother would be disgusted if she could see what I was doing. She also added that I should grow up".

Chloe looked at him in disbelief.

"And you took that?" Chloe couldn't imagine Lex, even as a teenager, letting anyone speak to him like that.

"I didn't have much choice", he chuckled. "She was a lot like you. You really don't argue with her if you know what's good for you".

"What happened to her?" Chloe demanded. Not bringing up the fact that he always argued with her and never backed down, it was really rather annoying … and exhilarating.

He noted the touch of possessiveness in her tone. He smirked. "She decided that she needed a bigger challenge. She married Bruce Wane, he's been a lot less self-destructive since then", under his breath he added, "He doesn't dare go on drinking binges now".

"Good", Chloe said, realising that the little demon was taken so couldn't go after Lex. "She sounds nice".

"Yeah, she is", he replied before adding ruefully, "Tough but nice".

"I am imaging an amazon", Chloe tried to picture the woman who could cow these powerful men.

Lex shook his head. "Short, 5,2 if that, with red curls and dimples".

"Cute", Chloe commented, a different image coming into her head.

"Yes", he agreed, "but deadly".

Chloe ate some more of her soup. "I would have tried veggies years ago if I had known that they could taste like this".

He grinned. "How about another new experience tonight?"

She looked at him warily.

He held out an oyster to her. Chloe didn't want an oyster, she really didn't but she couldn't stop herself from leaning forwards and allowing him to feed it to her. He pressed it to her lips, gently forcing her bottom lip down to allow him to slip the delicacy into her waiting mouth. He had clearly done this before.

She pulled a face. "Do you want some of my soup and bread to make up for the fact that they have given you a yucky starter?" She offered.

"No thank-you", he declined. "They are considered a delicacy you know".

"They are also considered to raise your libido, but that don't", she informed him.

"They don't? Must be the view then", he said, hoping that he hadn't gone too far this time.

Chloe pulled another face at him again, just as their second course arrived.

"You ordered me steak and French fries?" Chloe giggled, "How very plebeian of you".

"Not when it is the very best emu", Lex replied waiting for her reaction.

"Emu?"

"Try it before you judge it", he advised her, wondering how she would have fared growing up in his home. He imagined a tiny Chloe at the age of six wearing her most stubborn face – as one of the pictures on Gabe's next showed her – refusing to eat what was in front of her. Lex would have been forced back into his chair and refused to be allowed up from his chair or to have anything else to eat or drink until he had finished, but he had the feeling that Chloe would probably have melted Lionel's heart at that age.

Eyeing her meal with suspicion Chloe took a bite and then squeaked with delight, "It is gorgeous. That is it, you have competition, I am opening my own completely unethical business tomorrow just so that I can have this again".

"Wait until you taste desert", he said simply, making a mental note to make sure that her freezer was packed with emus.

They finished their main course rather quickly – both being starving - and Lex was just in the middle of a really good story when he noticed that Chloe's attention was not on him.

"I don't believe it", she muttered.

"What don't you believe?" He wondered as he followed her gaze, and trying not to feel offended.

"That is the senator", Chloe explained, "I was doing a piece on him a few weeks ago for an audition article".

"A quote would probably help", Lex mentioned casually.

"Well yes but I couldn't even get his press secretary to call me back so I don't think that this is going to happen", Chloe said, obviously not angling for anything, she was just surprised to see him.

"Well then you should have asked me", he beckoned over a waiter and informed him that he would not be displeased if the state senator were to stop by their table. The man appeared a few seconds later looking flushed and overjoyed.

"This is an honour Mr Luthor", he tripped over his words.

"Indeed it is, you are going to have the privilege of being interviewed by one of the world's best reporters", he indicated the blonde sitting across from him.

"Yes, of course, I have long admired your work Miss …"

"Sullivan", Chloe supplied helpfully, trying not to laugh.

"Yes of course Miss Sullivan. Your last article in particular was a revelation", he obviously had no idea who she was.

"Really?" Chloe looked delighted at that. The senator looked worried but nodded, she was obviously important to Lex and it wouldn't do to upset her.

"Yes".

"Oh I'm so glad. I really thought that there would be some backlash to my article on swinging in the suburbs and my suggestion that if the members of our government had a little more sex that they might get more done in the day", Chloe wanted to see how far she could push this.

The senator choked and Lex had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"Um, yes, quite", he babbled. Then he handed her a card, "Here is all of my contact information Miss Sullivan. I don't want to interrupt your dinner, oh look your pudding is coming, but please do contact me any time and we will arrange an interview for whenever you find most convenient".

"Swinging in the suburbs?" Lex chucked as he left and their mousse was placed in front of them.

Chloe shrugged, "It was the only thing that I could think of".

"Apart from my concern that that is what you think of when put on the spot, I am shocked that when I introduce you to one of the most influential men in the state and you act like that", he tried to make his voice stern, "I am tempted not to let you have your dessert, which would be a great shame as it was triple chocolate mousse with a triple shot of espresso". 'Just perfect for keeping you up all night', he thought.

Chloe snorted, in an extremely unladylike manner. "Like you could ever do that".

Lex regarded her for a moment, she clearly wasn't buying his trying to play the powerful business man card so he gave in, "Dig in". He regretted those words almost immediately. He had no idea whether she was doing it deliberately to get him back for the innuendos he had been throwing her way all night and his previous attempt at high handed behaviour, or whether she was just an incredibly sensual being but Chloe's response to chocolate mousse would have been enough to seduce a monk.

She ran the spoon slowly along the top of her dessert then brought it to her lips, inhaling deeply before slipping it into her mouth. Her eyes drifted shut and he heard her moan with pleasure as the taste exploded on her tongue. She sucked her spoon before releasing it to gather more chocolate, anxious to enjoy every sinful mouthful.

"Oh God that's good", her voice sounded almost raspy.

It brought back several rather inappropriate fantasies he had had over the years of eating melted chocolate off her naked body. He groaned as she took the second bite, with a slightly whimper, she swallowed and her pink tongue poked out to lick her lips. Damn, he shifted under the table. He was suddenly a little uncomfortable.

"Are you alright Lex?" Chloe asked, opening her eyes. "You look a little odd".

"I'm fine", he said but his voice was strained.

"Are you certain because I am sure that we could get a doctor or something if you don't feel well", she actually started looking around for a member of staff to call upon, she was sure that they must have a hotel doctor around somewhere and if not, the name Lex Luthor was bound to produce one.

The concern in her voice touched him deeply and let him know that she had not been playing him, she really had no idea how deeply she could affect him just by eating some chocolate mousse.

"I'm fine, just a little overly warm. What would you think about going out on the balcony?" He wondered.

"Of course", Chloe rose, genuinely concerned about him, she picked up his dessert as well as her own and started towards the public balcony.

"I meant my private one", Lex explained, seeing where she was headed. Bugger, he hadn't made himself clear.

"Okay", she replied turning to him, ready to follow; still not getting the significance of the placement of his private balcony. Her level of faith in him was really quite touching, although entirely misplaced based on what he was planning on doing to her when he got her up there.

"Allow me", he said taking the desserts and handing them to the waiter to take up. He was really rather moved when he saw that Chloe's belief that he wasn't feeling well had made her forget about her pudding.

Lex led her out through the main lobby just in time to see the football player and his date arriving, he smirked. This was going to be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Heads turned as the striking couple entered the room, even in the most exclusive hotel in Metropolis they were something out of the ordinary. The gentleman was tall, well dressed, oozing confidence and sex appeal. They had all seen him on the covers of magazines but he looked far better in person; he was devilishly handsome. Men and women alike stared enviously at the smiling blonde woman on his arm as they were framed perfectly in the lobby's archway.

Lex looked around for the voices he had heard a few minutes ago and caught his reflection in the large mirror in the Plaza's lobby and grinned smugly. God they looked good together. It was hard to tear his eyes away from the sight but he did so when he heard the voices again.

"This is going to be fun", he whispered to Chloe, taking her hand before walking her over the reception.

Chloe had heard the voices too but was still a little surprised, she had thought that it would take them longer to get there and she wasn't sure whether or not she should be looking forwards to another confrontation. Part of her wanted to run away and hide and avoid the possibility of Lex actually doing the boy some damage this time, the other really wanted to rub her upgrade in his face. This was the first time that she hadn't been the one left hurt and alone.

However as he grasped her hand and exerted a gently pressure on her, she knew that she didn't really have a choice. He was determined to go over there and judging by his expression, he was in a mischievous mood.

"What are you up to?" She asked him in a whisper.

"You'll just have to wait and see", he gave her a wink just before they reached the front desk.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait", the haughty receptionist informed the football player. "Mr Luthor", she beamed over at him, "Is there anything that I can do for you sir?"

She knew that it was wrong, she knew that she should not be impressed by the amount of power that Lex had, but it really was nice for once to come first rather than being at the end of the queue.

"Just checking that everything I ordered earlier has been done", he informed her, although they all knew that he really just wanted his presence known.

"Yes sir Mr Luthor, everything is just as you requested including them um extras", she blushed a little.

Chloe raised an eye brow at Lex, wondering what he was up to; there was no way that he would stoop to checking that his orders had been carried out or doubt that the Plaza would not have done so. She really wanted to know what was going on, especially as she watched the woman blush. She doubted that Lex having asked to have extra towels or something put in the room would have caused that reaction. What could it have been?

"Good", he gave the receptionist a winning smile before returning his attention to his date, bringing the hand that was still entwined with Chloe's to his lips.

She gasped as she felt his mouth against the tender skin of her knuckles. He had been tactile all evening and had touched her before, but she had never got so wound up by such a minor caress in the past. Maybe it was the excitement of knowing what they might be doing later.

"But", the footballer started to complain about something, drawing attention to him and reminding Chloe of what he had said the last time they had seen him visa vi her cherry.

She tightened her grip on Lex's hand, she wanted revenge. "You were going to take me to the private balcony", Chloe reminded him, "Have you forgotten where it is?" She asked, "Do you know?" She turned to the secretary ignoring her former potential date.

"Um, yes Miss", she glanced over at Lex and once he nodded explained, "it is attached to the penthouse suite … Mr Luthor's suite".

"Oh", Chloe blushed realising her mistake. What had happened to her journalist's nose? She would have got that if it had been anyone else. Honestly, if the thought of potential sex made her this dim she wasn't sure that it was a good idea to go all of the way. She might never recover her brain, and she heard that she might need it at college.

"Chloe, you aren't really?" The footballer interrupted her thoughts.

She looked over at him wondering if she had misjudged him. Maybe he was the sweet, slightly simple soul that she had always taken him for. Maybe his outburst earlier had just been because he was upset and because deep down he cared about her, not enough that she wanted to sleep with him but a little. She gazed into his eyes expecting to see concern, but just saw disgust.

Chloe felt sick. She had no problem with the idea of waiting until marriage or at least until you were in love to have sex – even if she was just doing it because she wanted to get it over and done with – but she wasn't going to be looked at as if she were a slut for deciding not to do that, especially not by the man who had been planning on taking her flower only a week ago and by the looks of it was hoping to hook up with another girl that very night!

"Yes she is, but that is no business of yours", Lex barked out, unwilling to allow anyone to speak slightingly of/to/in the general vicinity of Chloe. "What is he doing here?" He turned to the secretary.

"We have a reservation", he interrupted and Chloe closed her eyes. The man really was an idiot! Could he not see how angry Lex was? Chloe could and as much as she hated to admit it – being a strong independent woman who had no need for a man – it was still nice to see that he, at least, cared about her.

"No, you don't", the receptionist reminded him. She should know, she had deleted the reservation herself.

"Mikey, how could you do this to me?" His date whimpered.

"I didn't do anything, I made a reservation", he glared at the receptionist. "Check again".

"I have checked several times and you still do not have a reservation, you never had a reservation. We don't even have a record of you calling to make a reservation", the receptionist explained, lying through her teeth just as Lex had told her to.

"But …"

"Mr Luthor has brought the entire hotel for the night", she explained, "well the bedrooms not the restaurant etc. He said that his lady friend would need plenty of options". Lex had not actually instructed her to say that part but she was good at sensing the mood of the room and knew that she would be richly rewarded for such a statement.

"You brought the all of the bedrooms?" Chloe looked up at Lex, not sure whether he was doing this just to annoy the footballer or because he really planned on having her sleep somewhere else.

She could practically hear Mickey smiling as he realised that there was a chance that she wasn't going to get laid that night. Well, Chloe squared her shoulders, maybe she wasn't but he did not have to know that and Lex certainly wouldn't tell him.

"Well that is really sweet of you", she cooed, placing her hands on Lex's warm, strong chest. "But I seem to have forgotten to bring my teddy bear and I can't sleep without him. You can't think of something else I could cuddle up to, could you?"

"Oh, I think that I could manage to think of something", he wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her even closer enjoying the feel of warm body pressed against him, before teasing her, "I could take you to a toy store".

"Don't you dare", she snaked her arms around him.

"Oh damn, and after the things I had put in the room, I hoped that you were into toys", he said in a whisper which was supposed to sound intimate but carried. Chloe had no idea whose benefit he had said that for, but she found that she didn't care.

She ran her hands up his back up to his neck to pull him down so that she could really whisper to him. "Pretend that I am saying something really scandalous". She only just managed to stop herself from asking what the toys were, if he had been being serious.

He grinned, "No problem", he whispered back. He then cupped her ass and pulled her hard against him so that she could feel his erection, and said in an (almost) normal tone, "I had no idea that you were into that. But I think that I can accommodate".

There was a noise that sounded like something between a cough and a snort from the area behind the desk, and the sound of squabbling from the side.

"Have him shown the door", Lex told the receptionist smirking smugly as he heard the ruckus, one thing for sure was that he wasn't getting any that night. In fact, he was fairly certain that he heard him getting hit with handbag.

"You are so evil", Chloe giggled as Lex pulled her over to the side and into the lift.

"You're the one who told me to act as if you said something scandalous", he reminded her.

"Yes, well I thought that it was better than you trying to kill him, you looked around ready to do that earlier", Chloe said as they entered the small cabin.

"Well I was prepared this time", he grinned down at her, "Now, you said something about Clark trying to show you my moves in a lift".

"Yes", Chloe said leaning back against the wall, pretending to be casual. "I'm not sure that he could be beaten", she teased him, placing her hands behind her and pushing her chest out slightly, trying to look natural.

"Red rag to a bull", he murmured as he advanced on her, running a hand over the side of her face before leaning down to kiss her neck. She smiled and forced him back until he was the one pushed up against the wall.

"Feisty, I like it", he beamed down at her about to push her back when there was the ping and the lift doors opened.

"Damn it", he muttered.

"What's wrong? Now we get to go on to the bedroom", she gave him her most seductive smile which must have worked judging by his reaction.

Lex let out a low growl before he picked her up bridal style and marched into the room, heading straight to the bedroom.

"You promised to show me your balcony", Chloe reminded him, fairly certain that at least now she knew what his intentions were for that night.

"Alright", he agreed and began to move over to the balcony before she stopped him as she finally got a chance to look around the suite. It was beautiful, but that came as no surprise to her as this was Lex's suite. What she hadn't expected was that it was decked out in the most clichéd romantic style possible.

"Did you really do all of this for me?" Chloe gasped, forgetting for a moment that she was still in his arms.

"Of course, who else would I do it for? Lana?" He found it extremely upsetting that Chloe was so shocked that someone would decorate the room for her.

"So, this was planned", she checked.

"Yes, of course", his voice was husky.

"Put me down please Lex", Chloe said her voice filled with confusion.

Looking a little sad, Lex did as she said but Chloe didn't notice. She was too busy staring around the room.

"It is gorgeous, a little over done but gorgeous", she wandered around the room. There were candles and rose petals everywhere and soft music was playing in the background. Without thinking her feet led her over to the bedroom which was done out in the same style with a packet of condoms sitting in the centre of the bed.

Lex followed her into the room, hoping that she was offended, she had seemed to be getting into it a few minutes before.

Chloe turned to him, she wanted to say thank-you or something along those lines. He had tried to give her the 'perfect' prom night, she was sure that he wasn't into the overly fluffy things. But she didn't. Instead she hid behind snarkiness as she always did when assaulted by a strong emotion. "Someone was very cocky", she teased him, throwing a pointed look over her shoulder at the packet of condoms, for the larger man.

He smirked, she wasn't mad. "Well I have the abilities to make it up, don't worry. But I don't want to pressure you into anything you aren't ready to do".

She felt her heart swelling. Chloe was in his arms before she knew what was happening, kissing him for all that she was worth. Their arms grabbed at each other, their hips ground against each other, she could feel his arousal hot and hard against her.

Breathing hard, she took a step back and put her hands behind her. There was silence for a moment as they both tried to get a hold of each other.

"Lex", she said, the glimmer of a tear in her eyes, "I can't".


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_Five years later …_

Smallville high school's gym was decorated with streamers and balloons in varying shades of red and blue – a tribute to the red and blue blur, although they had no idea that he came from their town. A large banner welcomed the alumni to their five year reunion and the party was officially in full swing. The majority of the guests who had already arrived were either dancing or somewhere over by the snack table, but hardly anyone was sitting down.

Chloe sat at exactly the same table she had sat at during her high school prom, and like that night she was alone. The only difference (other than her wardrobe) was that this time at least she had an alcoholic drink, which she felt she thoroughly deserved. She hadn't wanted to come back to Smallville, it wasn't that she hated it here it just wasn't home anymore her true home was in … She shook her head. She couldn't think about the home that she had made anymore or who she had made it with. It had been a mistake.

Taking a sip of her drink and enjoying the way that it burnt her throat she surveyed the scene. She still recognised most of the people there and she had even spoken to a few of them but her friends were not there yet.

She took another swig of her scotch and scowled. It wasn't a good year and it certainly wasn't a single malt, she had become a connoisseur over the last five years but she would take it at the moment. At least if no one she really knew was there yet she didn't have to put on a happy face and pretend that everything was alright.

The moment that Clark and Lana arrived they would hug and kiss her and want to know everything that had happened to her – although they did still email each other about once a month and saw each other a couple of times a year. Chloe really didn't want to talk about how her life was going right then, she knew that it would all work out alright in the end but it didn't really make her feel any better at that moment. As she kept reminding herself, no one had ever died from a broken heart, she had looked it up. It was just hard to believe at that moment.

Chloe tried desperately not to think about the past or the last time that she had been in that gym. She finished her drink and pulled a face at the bottom of the glass.

"Hello happiness, I was informed that you were supposed to be there", she addressed it very strictly.

"That is at the bottom of the bottle, not the glass, and not of that filth", a voice came from behind her.

She closed her eyes, unable to stop the memories flooding back to her in a torturous montage.

"Well you would know", was all that she managed to get out, hoping that her voice would not crack. She was not entirely successful.

"I've got the bottom of a lot of bottles, but I never found happiness there", she was informed and she felt his hand touching her shoulder lightly. She screwed her eyes shut even more tightly, willing the tears not to fall.

"No, you no doubt find it between women's legs", she said jumping to her feet, spinning around and trying to get away but she found her way barred.

Chloe held herself as still as she could, concentrating on every single muscle in her body but it didn't work, she still shook a little with desperation. She could feel the warmth of his body, smell his scent – he had been drinking more than normal – and feel his hand still on her shoulder. It was enough to undo her but she had to be strong. She didn't know what kind of game he was there to play but she was not having any part of it.

"Get out of my way Luthor", she demanded angrily.

"Not until you look at me", he said, fighting the impulse to grab her and kiss her senseless, she might fight at first but eventually she would submit.

She wanted to refuse, wanted to fight against him and the hold he had over her … but she couldn't. He was too strong for her and she knew it.

His words "look at me", replayed over and over in her head, spawning unbidden images.

_Prom night …_

"I can't Lex", Chloe's voice sounded pained and Lex thought that his heart might break. Not because he was going to be denied the physical release that he had been anticipating for days now, but because she sounded so upset.

"Chloe, look at me", he instructed her as he brushed his thumb across her cheek.

Slowly she did as she was bid.

"There's no need for tears, there is no need for you to get upset. I meant what I said; I'm not going to try to force you. We can …"

Chloe shook her head and his heart sank even further as he realised that he wasn't even allowed to say that they could take things as fast or slow as she wanted. The message was clear, she didn't want him. She had just come with him because she had needed someone and that was okay, he had forced her into getting into the helicopter, if all she wanted as friendship then that was what he would give her. He could take her out dancing. He would do anything to make her happy, even if that meant denying his own needs and wants.

"It's not that Lex", she tried to explain, seeing the doubt in his eyes, "I can't …"

"It's okay sweetheart", he tried to assure her. He wanted to pull her into his arms, it seemed like the most natural thing to do but he wasn't sure if she would find that comforting or alarming in her present state.

"No it isn't Lex. I can't get the bloody zip undone", she finally got out as she continued to fight with the wretched thing behind her.

"You can't get the bloody zip undone?" Lex repeated in astonishment as his mind tried to catch up with his libido, which was once again raging. "That was all the matter was?"

"Yes", Chloe nodded.

"That's no reason to cry", he said.

"I wasn't crying, it was just frustration and it's so hot in here", she moaned, "I want to feel your hands on my skin, not on this stupid dress". She cursed herself inwardly for having brought the damned thing in the first place; she should have known that something with pink on it was bound to cause problems. She did not even realise what she had just let slip.

A shot of arousal went straight to his cock.

"Turn around", he ordered her as he tried to spin her around by the shoulders. She did as she was told and presented her back to him.

He ran his hands up and down her sides a few times, now that he knew just how much she liked it. He knew that it was mean but he couldn't resist.

"Please Lex", she moaned.

He grinned. He hadn't been with anyone who could get quite that worked up quite that quickly in a very long time. He was fairly certain that she wasn't just doing this to "get it over with" anymore.

"You have discovered the magic word", he teased her as she took hold of the zip, "and I expect that I will be hearing a lot more of that tonight".

She felt her mouth go dry at that and her knees weaken a little but she was determined to be strong. "Why, planning on doing a lot of begging are you?"

Her cheekiness was rewarded with a chuckle as he yanked the zip hard. It moved, but only a little.

"God, I knew that I shouldn't have had those fries yesterday", she groaned. The dress was now clearly too tight.

"First of all you don't change yourself to meet the requirement of a piece of fabric", Lex told her sternly. "Second of all, the dress isn't too tight; it is just a dodgy zipper. I intend on suing whoever made this for negligence, incompetence and mental and physical cruelty".

"Do you think that you can accuse them of that?" Chloe wondered, she didn't know the finer points of the law but she thought that it was unlikely that that was allowed.

Lex's only answer was to grasp her hips and pull her hard against him. She wriggled enjoying the friction and from what she could feel she imagined that Lex would probably win his case.

"Do you trust me?" He murmured in her ear.

"Yes", she whispered back, not needing a second to think about it. He was Lex Luthor; he had protected both her and her father. He deserved her unquestioning trust and loyalty.

"Thank-you", he said, not knowing where that he come from. He had only meant for practical purposes, he didn't realise quite how much her opinion of him mattered to him. "Stay where you are", he commanded as he reluctantly moved away from the heat of her body.

Chloe wondered what was going on but did as she was told, she could hear Lex moving away from her and rummaging in a draw before returning to her and plucking the fabric slightly from her back. He slipped two fingers down the back of her dress, allowing some cool air to get at her skin. He spread his fingers and she felt tingles right the way down her spine.

"Don't move", he said and then she felt something cold against her back and the sound of cutting.

The air found its way through the gaping hole in the fabric as Lex cut his way carefully down her back until he got to her tail bone – being sure never to cut her -, then he moved around to the front.

"Will you do the honours?" He asked, nodding towards her halter neck, there was nothing wrong with the fastening there and it was now all that was keeping her dress on.

She swallowed, she had been desperate to get her clothes off, to feel his skin on hers. She had been so overcome with lust that she had not actually considered the part where she would have to bare herself to him.

"You first", she said, buying some time. She needed to get a few more deep breaths into her before she was quite up to stripping off in front of him. It may have been night but the curtains were wide open so that they could see the stars and there was soft candle light, he would see everything.

Lex smiled at her, sensing the nervousness in her tone. He wanted to tell her that she had nothing to be afraid of but he knew that that would do little good.

"As you wish", he said and removed his jacket and placed it neatly on the chair near the bed. He then sat down on it to untie his shoes, take them off and do the same with his socks. He loosened and then removed his tie before standing up and working on the first few buttons of his dress shirt.

Chloe had to catch her breath. She didn't think that he had ever looked more handsome. Certainly he looked good in his suit, but like this, a little less formal with the hint of smooth skin exposed by his shirt … she wanted to throw herself into his arms, and probably would have done so if that would not have impeded the show that she was enjoying.

Lex grinned, as he felt her eyes burning into his skin. He knew that he was an attractive man but it was always nice to have definite proof of the fact and to see the effect that he had on her. Chloe's cheeks were a little flushed and her chest was rising and falling more definitely than was normal.

He wanted to tease her and slowly pulled out the shirt from his trousers and fiddled with the next button down.

"Hurry up Lex", her voice was saturated with need and desire, "please!"

"Well since you asked so nicely". He made short work of the rest of his buttons and the cuffs and threw the shirt back over the chair, too far gone to care about whether or not it was folded up neatly.

Chloe gasped as his torso was revealed to her. She had never seen such a beautiful chest. He was exquisite. He had long hard muscles but not overly bulked up. He was perfect, not even the slight scars could detract from his deliciousness.

Lex unbuckled his belt and shoved his trousers down before kicking them to the side, he was only in his boxers now – he didn't want to scare her.

"Your turn", he growled as he advanced on her. "Take your dress off, let me see you". He could rip it off her himself, and was more than half tempted to do so, but he wanted her to do it. He wanted her to willingly show him everything.

"Okay", she agreed, her eyes still glued to his body as her fingers rested on the straps just above her breasts before slowly tracing their way around to the clasp at the back. She took a breath stealing herself, her eyes travel up to him and the patient need she saw there spurred her on. It took a few attempts, as her fingers were trembling so badly, but finally she got it. Still holding onto the straps she brought them back around in front of her.

She couldn't believe that she was doing this. She was about to expose herself completely to Lex Luthor.

"Look at me", Lex's tone was low and commanding. It was the one that he had used on her a hundred times before and normally made her succumb to him, but not this time. Chloe kept her eyes screwed shut. She would not give in to him.

"Chloe", he repeated, this time cupping her chin and raising it, "Look at me".

She tried to recoil from his touch, but her body wouldn't let her. It had been so long and she ached for his touch more than a junkie craved its fix.

"Look at me", he repeated his command, this time stressing every single word. He was going to win this, come what may.

Her body trembled under the strain of not obeying him, but she wouldn't open her eyes. She did not want to see Alexander Luthor! Well, that wasn't really true. She yearned to see him, just like her body burned for his touch but she knew that she couldn't allow that.

Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere with this plan of attack, Lex kept his grip on her chin but used his knowledge of her body to his advantage. He trailed his other hand down the back of her neck, along her shoulders and down her arm in a sensual caress. He could feel the muscles jumping under her smooth flesh causing him to smirk; he could still get a reaction out of her. She still wanted him and he was not unaffected by her himself.

He reached behind her and rubbed her back in the way that always made her relax. Her body wanted to give in, it was only her mind that stopped her from melting into his arms.

Lex licked his lips, he should have known that she would make this difficult for him. He looked around to check that no one was paying them any attention, they weren't so he was free to continue – not that an audience would have necessary stopped him but it might have given his pause for thought.

He cupped her bottom gently and saw her eyelids flicker a little. His smirk grew. He grabbed her ass, squeezing her and pulled her into him.

Chloe's eyes shot open.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The reunion continued, everyone was so preoccupied with seeing their old friends/enemies that they paid no attention to the drama that was unfolding over by the tables. The best dressed, and obviously most cultured, couple in the room were obviously spoiling for a fight, in spite of their physical proximity.

Chloe's memory of Lex was perfect, images of him had haunted her every night since their … she didn't even know what the word for it was, but seeing him in the flesh again was a completely different experience. The memory of him had kept her awake so many nights as she writhed between the sheets, desperate to feel his skin against hers rather than just the silk of her linen, but the reality of him was almost enough to bring her to her knees.

He was absolutely gorgeous. He was just as large as she remembered although he seemed even larger in his annoyance. His body was just as strong as she had remembered; she could hardly ignore it being pressed against him as she was. His long, talented fingers continued to squeeze her buttocks drawing slight noises from her which she tried to swallow back, but without much success.

She was furious with him, how dare he come here to her school, to her reunion and treat her like this? She wanted to brace her hands against his warm, broad chest and push but was afraid that feeling him under her fingers might prove to be her undoing. Not to mention the fact that he was so much stronger that she was, he would just pull her back even closer till they were grinding together. The images that that put in her head were hardly conducive to thinking clearly.

Chloe gave him her meanest scowl as she looked up into his face. She could see bald head, the dark bruises under his eyes, the fine lines around his eyes and mouth which hadn't been there before. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, not enough for him to be drunk but certainly more than she would have liked him to have drunk by this time at night. His dark grey suit was expensive and perfectly tailored but slightly crumpled. God help her, he was still so delicious that she wanted to eat him up.

Lex did not seem overly bothered by her scowling at him, if anything he seemed to find it rather amusing. He couldn't be too bothered about anything now that he had her in his arms, even if she wasn't there entirely of her own free will. She was damned sure going to remain in his arms though, or at least on his arm and covered by his coat. It had not escaped him that she was wearing a rather revealing plum colour gown – a mixture of his favourite colour (purple) and hers (red) – which he knew had originally been brought to seduce him with. He tried to console himself that she must have known that he was going to be there, that all of that leg and the hint of cleavage were just for him but he couldn't quite convince himself - she had seemed shocked and outraged to find him there.

Her long golden hair was falling freely around her shoulders, just the way that he liked it so that he could run his fingers through the silky tresses. Her make-up was natural but distinctly sexy, there was extra mascara and eye liner on and her lips were as tempting as he had ever seen them. He did not believe that she had intended on going home by herself that night.

To confirm his suspicions he continued the kneading of her ass and was pleased to note that he obviously still had a physical effect on her although he was outraged as he felt that all that was underneath there was a thong.

He gritted his teeth. Chloe hated thongs. She said that the only reason to wear them was if they were the edible kind and you planned on having your man lick off you. For her own good Chloe better have fucking been expecting him to show up there tonight.

Chloe knew exactly what he was doing and decided to push away and damn the consequences. She placed her hands on his chest, convincing herself that she was too angry for him to have any effect on her, and shoved as hard as she could. He didn't move as much as one millimetre. Lex was simply too strong, he kept her in place, if anything pulling her even closer. They were practically melded together. She wouldn't have thought when she was younger that she could ever be displeased to find herself in this position.

She whimpered slightly as she found herself completely against him, she wanted to tell him to let her go but she was afraid that he would realise how much of an effect he was having on her. She didn't want him to know that she still thought about him.

Judging by the expression on his face, he knew exactly what he was doing to her, she tried to move her head but Lex was still holding her chin and she didn't dare close her eyes again unless he found a more persuasive method of making her open them again.

"What the fuck are you wearing?" He demanded, "This had better be for my benefit", he growled before he could think better of it.

"Fuck you, I have wear whatever the fuck I want and it has fuck all to do with you", Chloe hissed back.

"The last time I heard the word fuck come out of your mouth that many times you were on your knees as I fucked you from behind", he reminded her, as if that somehow gave him the right to pass comment on her attire.

"Fuck you", Chloe balked. She was not at her most eloquent at that moment, as the majority of the blood was not going to her brain.

"Well I was going to get to that part later but I can rearrange my schedule. Do you want to do it here or go back to the mansion?" He asked, as if he really didn't understand that she had been swearing at him rather than offering him her body.

"You bastard", she hissed.

"What?" He tried to look as neutral as possible, "You seem tense. Like you need seeing to".

"You know what Lex? You are completely right" She ran her hand along her neck, "I really do need a good, long, hard fuck", she watched with satisfaction as his eyes followed her fingers. "Clark will be turning up soon-ish, so you had better make yourself scarce".

"He touches you and I'll invent a kryptonite weapon and kill him", Lex's voice was menacing.

"Touch him and I will kick your ass", Chloe threatened.

"Dressed like that?" He didn't sound convinced, those five inch heels alone would make any violence rather difficult.

"What is wrong with the way I look?" She demanded, unable to believe that they were having this conversation. This was not what she had planned on saying to him when next they met.

"Nothing", he breathed.

"Well you look like crap", she lied.

"You look gorgeous", Lex kept her pressed to him.

Chloe tensed as she remembered.

"You're gorgeous", Lex almost groaned as Chloe finally let go of the straps of her halter neck, allowing it to fall to the ground and reveal all of her to him.

A shy smile played around her lips but she couldn't look at him, she wrapped one of her legs around the other one and her hands went up to cover her breasts.

"Come here", he said with a warm smile as he closed the distance between them and took her hands from over her breasts and placed them on his shoulders before cupping her face and kissing her gently.

Chloe's hands glided over his bare shoulders up to his neck and pulled him closer, increasing the passion of the kiss until they were both gasping.

"You are too fucking gorgeous for words", he growled as they broke apart.

She blushed slightly, clearly not sure whether to believe him. He felt hatred towards anyone who had ever made her feel ugly swelling within him but he stamped it down, he would show her how beautiful she really was.

"I mean it", he assured her taking both of her hands in his and kissing them. She had small graceful hands with practical nails, he liked that, it meant that they wouldn't lacerate him too badly when she clawed at his back.

"You are so lovely", he kissed the insides of her wrists causing her to whimper slightly. He grinned, so she was ticklish, that would come in handy later. He kissed his way up her arms, his fingers kneading her flesh, "Such perfect arms", he murmured.

They were nowhere near as toned as Chloe wanted them to be, she almost wanted to pull away from him and hide the extra fat she had but she believed Lex's words. She didn't know if he had been possessed by something, but he obviously thought that he was telling the truth. He obviously thought that she was pretty.

His teeth grazed against her collar bone and she gasped, her hands clutching at his shoulders. His head lowered down into between her breasts and she froze, this wasn't good. He licked and nibbled his way down between them and she really wanted to cover those hated mounds up again but Lex beat her to it. He must have noticed how repulsive they were too, he must have … he was kneading them gently and Chloe thought that her knees might buckle. She leant even more heavily on him.

As he massaged the flesh his thumbs ran across the two stretch marks on the sides of her breasts which were a constant reminder not only of how quickly she had developed when she had finally started to grow, but also that her father hadn't know that she was supposed to have a bra the second that she got anything up there. It had not been until Lois had come back that she had got one and realised that they were supposed to be there and that it wasn't just excess fat but by then the damage had been done. They would never be quite right again. Lex seemed to disagree. He seemed to be intent upon rubbing the heaving mounds until she lost all ability to think.

"You are perfect", he growled as he finally changed his approached and used his thumbs on her nipples.

"Oh God Lex", Chloe groaned, her head falling back.

Lex grinned as he saw the effect that he was having on her and lifted her onto the bed, in case she was about to fall over. He crawled up over her and kissed her firmly before returning his attention to her breasts, this time continuing his exploration with his tongue.

She arched her back instinctively. "Please Lex", she whimpered.

He wanted to please her but then had an idea, he pulled back trying to explain to mini Lex that he wasn't giving up.

"Tell me that you are perfect, that your body is perfect and that you want me to touch and kiss you everywhere", he said as he sat back on his heels.

"I … I'm perfect, my body's perfect an … and I want you to touch and kiss me everywhere", she said in a shaky voice.

"Good girl", he popped one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked firmly causing her to make noises in the back of her throat which went straight to his cock.

Eventually he travelled down to her soft but flat stomach where he discovered a handful of beauty marks which he paid extra attention to, not wanting them to feel left out, before he ran his hands over her hips and imagined holding onto them as he plunged into her. He could just about make out the lattice work of white under her skin, but when he ran his fingers over her she was completely smooth. The stretch marks had healed, they must have been from very early on, she must have grown very quickly that would mean that when he got to her thighs … God he could really have done with a cold shower about then.

His hands slipped underneath her to squeeze her bottom. He grinned. There was definitely enough there to hold onto during moments of passion. Whilst he was definitely a breast man, he did appreciate a nice ass as well.

"So perfect", he murmured, as he ran his hands up along the insides of her thighs which were also marked. He could feel her trembling underneath him, he glanced to the side and could see her hands balled up in the coverlet and he was damned sure that it wasn't from pain. He trailed one finger along the inside of her thigh and watched her straining not to buck against him.

"You know I never thought that I would see Chloe Sullivan quiet and still … I'm not sure that I like it", he let his tongue travel the path this finger had mapped out and heard her gasp this time and felt her moving against him.

"So sensitive", he murmured against her. He hadn't touched a virgin for years, he normally didn't find much pleasure in the idea of instructing someone – before it had just been because he could – but now the possessive part of his nature revelled in the fact that he was going to be Chloe's first, last and only. He would be the one to teach about pleasure, how to move, even how to love a man if he could manage it.

"Lex, please", she begged, not sure what she was asking for.

"Don't worry baby, I'll give you everything you want", he kissed his way up her thighs before he began to stroke her gently, waiting until she started making noises in the back of her throat before replacing her hand with his mouth. He wanted this to be the perfect night for her.

"Oh God", she screamed as he sucked her clit and she felt herself ripping apart. "Oh Lex, oh Lex", she cried out as she bucked up under his mouth.

Lex took hold of her hips and forced her back down to the mattress, more than a little proud that he had made her come to fast, he resolved to get at least one more out of her before he slipped so much as one finger into her.

Chloe struggled against his hands but eventually calmed down slightly as the sensations ebbed from her body and she found herself able to breathe again, only to feel the tension coiling up inside her again.

"Oh Lex", she whimpered against as he began licking and sucking at her in earnest, her hands went to his shoulders and stroked over his shoulders.

"So perfect, you taste so good. I want you so much", he growled between licks.

"Then take me", she offered herself to him. If he hadn't been hard already, that would have been enough to do it.

"I will", he promised, "but not just yet", he moved her hips so that he could change his angle and was more than rewarded when he heard her scream. He started to stroke her again, while she was still thrashing about determined to prolong the pleasure for as long as possible.

Slowly, more afraid of hurting her than he had ever been before in his life, he inserted a finger into her and was recompensed with a string of curse words that would have made a navy seal blush. It was safe to say that she liked it and his earlier ministrations had clearly worked as she was sopping wet. He was greedy, he wanted to taste her again, he just couldn't get enough of her.

Chloe screamed as if she were being murdered as he slipped in another finger and then another, flicking his tongue against her all of the time. She was beyond words or begging at this point, Lex couldn't take it anymore. She was more than ready for him now, he nipped at her and was astounded as she came even more explosively than before.

Lex crawled up her body watched her face with fascination as it contorted as she came, he leant down to kiss her forehead gently and braced one arm next to her head. He moved his other hand back down between her legs double checking that she was ready, he really didn't want to hurt her although he knew that that was impossible unless she had somehow broken her maidenhead already.

He was almost lost to passion. He placed himself against her slick, trembling opening and considered taking things slowly but her hips already jerked against him, so he entered her. She felt amazing, she was so hot and tight.

Chloe could barely make sense of things. This was her third orgasm in such a short space of time and she had never even had one before. It was a little too much for her and her brain wasn't really up to dealing with all of the endorphins running around her system. Added to that the fact that there was now there was friction, she thought that she was about to go crazy. The only thought which was clear in her head was Lex.

Lex grit his teeth as he met the resistance, he stared at Chloe but realised that she was still too far gone to realise much of anything. If he broke her now she would probably be spared most of the pain, he stroked her cheek before playing with her clit as he forced himself into her again this time breaking through the barrier.

Chloe's eyes shot open, he had not quite succeeded, she had felt it.

He continued to toy with her trying to take her mind off the pain and Chloe pulled him down to kiss her. The pain had brought her back to her senses a little, so she could concentrate on him. He was hard between her legs and although she hurt there she couldn't help wriggling a little against him. His fingers were still tormenting her but she took his hand and pulled it away; she wanted to hold it. She used her other hand to stroke his head as their tongues caressed, it wasn't the heated battle of earlier it was slower, more sensual, more romantic as if they were really in love.

"God if you don't stop that then I'm not going to last very long", he growled in her ear.

"Which?" She asked keeping up the movement of her fingers over his scalp and of her hips.

"Both, I can't keep still much longer", his voice sounded strained.

"Then don't", Chloe tried to grind against him more effectively.

"You're sure?" He checked. God he was turning into a pussy where she was concerned. Time was when he would have already fucked her senseless, rested, flipped her over and done it again virgin or not.

"I'm sure that you are going to be in some serious pain if you don't hurry up and ah", she gasped as he thrust into her.

"Like that?" He groaned with satisfaction, or something very much like it.

"Yeah, like that", she gasped trying to move against him.

"Put your legs around my waist and your hands on my shoulders", he advised.

Chloe complied although the former took a couple of attempts as Lex continued to plough into her, increasing the pace and depth.

"Good girl", he commended her once she had managed it, "now push back against ah yeah like that, just like that", he panted out.

"Fuck your amazing", Chloe clawed at his shoulders.

"Right back at you", he managed to get out between breaths. He could feel himself bottoming out inside her now, causing her to gasp and moan with every movement.

"God so close", she moved her hands down his back, desperate to pull her closer. "Are you …?"

"Yeah, just", he broke off as he changed his angle slightly and was rewarded with a string of what might have been profanities although he couldn't be sure, he thought that he even heard some French in there too.

Her muscles clamped down around him with a death grip and he could barely contain himself but Chloe wasn't having that, she was apparently in just enough possession of her faculties to realise that he had not yet found released and reached down to touch him causing him to explode within her.

Lex slumped over her as pleasure coursed through him. He knew that he should get off her but Chloe was holding onto him too tightly.

Realising that he was not actually going to get out of her arms – not that he particularly wanted to – he held her close and rolled them over so that he was on his back and she wouldn't be crushed. He wasn't normally one for the post sex cuddle but he had to admit that with Chloe he could get used to it. He was really quite comfortable or at least he would be if he weren't lying on something plastic.

"Oh fuck".

"What's the matter?" Chloe wondered, a little fearfully. Had she done something wrong? Had he not enjoyed it? Did he regret what they had done?

"The condom", he groaned.

"Fuck", Chloe seconded his thought.

"I never forgot before", he said lamely, as if that somehow made it better. He had wanted to give her the perfect prom night, not ruin it.

"Hey don't worry about it. You're clean, right?" Chloe double checked.

"Of course, I would never have risk your health like that", he sounded more than a little affronted.

"I know, well then I will just have to take the pill tomorrow. It isn't the end of the world", Chloe assured him, hugging him – he looked like he needed a hug.

"I wanted this night to be perfect for you", he returned the hug.

"It was perfect Lex", she kissed him on the cheek, "You were perfect", she snuggled down against him then and went to sleep.

That night had been perfect, even as she woke up the next morning she was on cloud nine. She looked around the room for the source of her contentment but she couldn't see him.

"Lex", she called out. There was no response and she realised that his part of the bed was cold. Lex was gone.

"You look gorgeous, as always, but far too much of you is on display", Lex growled in her ear, trying to resist the urge to drag her off into a corner.

"I wasn't aware that that was your choice", she hissed.

"I think that I have some rights", he retorted, already knowing that that had been the wrong thing to say.

She turned on him, "Rights?!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"After", Chloe started to shout but then, remembering where she was lowered her voice to a hiss, "After what you did you have no fucking rights!" She injected her tone with enough venom to compensate for the fact that she was forced to reduce her volume but her body strained with the effort of doing so; she really wanted to scream blue murder at him.

"I was your first Chloe", he growled at her, "that gives me some rights whatever happened afterwards". He kept his hold on her; there was no way that he was going to let her get away from him. He would rather have her there before him fighting with him than be without her. He couldn't be without her, not again.

"No it doesn't", she struggled against him, tears stinging her eyes as she thought about her disappointment.

"Yes, it does", he ran his hand up her back trying to stop the shimmer of moisture in her green eyes. He didn't want to upset her, he really didn't. On the contrary, he wanted to kiss those tears away but he just couldn't live without her and this was the only way that he could provoke her into talking to him even if they were fast descending into childishness.

It pained him to think that she had a good point and that he had indeed lost some of his rights, that was one of the reasons why it had taken him so long to come after her. He had tried to do the noble thing and put her out of his mind; to let her get on with her life without him and find someone new, better but it hadn't worked. She was just as miserable without him as he was without her. And so he was here to win those rights back and make her happy. Of course, it seemed like getting her back and making her happy was going to involve making her furious first and he knew that when she was angry she tended to act out. Well he wasn't going to allow that either, she was not going to get hurt because of him ever again.

Chloe gasped as she felt his hot breath on her cheek, somehow that was even more intimate than his hands on her body and made her lose her train of thought. She hated herself for her weakness around him, after what had happened she shouldn't have allowed herself to feel anything other than hatred towards him. She tried to distract herself by looking around the room, anything was better than being reminded of him.

Whilst she had been arguing with Lex she hadn't been aware of her surroundings but now she realised the precariousness of their situation. She looked around to check that no one was observing them, she was not entirely fortunate. Obviously the in/famous Lex Luthor being in attendance and holding a woman close had not gone unnoticed by some women who were shooting her suspicious looks. Chloe grimaced.

Lex noticed the direction of her gaze and smirked. He could feel the effect that he was having on her – even if she tried to hide it - and relished it, he didn't care if anyone else saw them but if it bothered Chloe he would offer her a way out.

"You have two options here Chloe", he whispered in her ear, "either I kiss you senseless right now in front of all of the local town busybodies – most of whom have cameras on their phones – basically ensuring that it will be on papers tomorrow morning and that everyone will know that you are mine". The idea sent a thrill through him.

Suddenly Chloe was glad that his arms were wrapped so tightly around her so that she didn't fall over when her knees buckled. Her bones had turned to jelly, her pupils had dilated and she had to really focus on keeping a firm hold on her anger as she clung to his suit jacket to keep herself fully upright.

Lex smiled at the reaction his words had caused and supported her body against his.

"What's the other option?" She asked, galled that he had made her admit that he was in control and that she did have only two choices, sort of. If the second option was just as bad she would refuse, although she had no idea how her body would take such a refusal it was about ready to give herself to him on any terms.

"Sit down quietly and politely and have a drink with me, as if we were just old friends", he offered her a way out. He had wanted to make the second option something even more outrageous but he knew that if he pushed her too far she would just close off from him completely.

"You don't know what friendship is", she spat back at him. That was good, that had sobered her up a little. Her knees had almost regained some of their strength which would be useful when he pushed her away and stormed out of the room.

His face remained neutral but there was a flash of pain in his eyes which no one other than Chloe would have noticed. She realised that her words had sliced through him and for a moment, one terrible moment, she felt delight. She had managed to hurt him. She felt powerful. Oh God, that was the attitude that had got her in trouble with Lionel when she had wanted to destroy Clark. She was repulsed with herself. The flood of guilt washed over her as she looked up at Lex, she wanted to reach out and comfort him, she hadn't meant to hurt him when she had said it. It had just come out.

Lex could practically read her thoughts and God help him he was going to use them against her. "So the kiss it is then", his head swooped down hoping that she would be too confused by her feelings to react quickly enough, however she did just turn her head in time so that he only caught her cheek.

He tried to keep the disappointment from showing on his face, he knew that he should not have expected it to be that easy. "Or the drink if you would prefer", he added reluctantly.

"I think that I could use a drink", she said as she felt him placing another kiss on her cheek. It was the easiest way to get him to release her, and she really did need a drink.

"Alright", Lex agreed and reluctantly loosened his grip on her enough to pull out a chair for her and to help her – for her legs were still jelly-like – to sit down. He took the seat next to her and wrapped his foot around the leg of hers so that she couldn't pull away from him. He already missed the warmth of her body pressed against him, he certainly wasn't about to allow her to run away.

There were several bottles on the table and Chloe reached across for the scotch, anxious for something to do and poured them both a glass of it. As she did so he got a flash of cleavage which made him glance around and give "sod off" glares to any man who was looking her way.

"The fact that I agreed to have a drink with you does not mean that I want you to scare away potential male company", she informed him icily as she handed him his drink.

Lex appeared unconcerned by this rebuke although inside he was seething at the thought of another man coming near her, even though he knew that there was no chance that she was leaving with anyone but him.

To distract himself from saying something that she might make him regret he took a sip of his drink and pulled a face. "Certainly not the best. I thought that I had trained you better than that. You should know which scotch to consume".

Chloe bristled at this and the fact that he hadn't responded to her earlier jab, she had wanted him to be jealous and declare that she was only leaving with him – even if she didn't want him to think that he had the right to make her decisions for her.

"Fuck you", she responded again. She did know the difference between the two and knew that this wasn't good so there wasn't really anything else that she could say, but she had to say something.

"Fuck again?" He raised an eyebrow. "Either you have a one tracked mind or they didn't teach you many words in that fancy school you went to".

Chloe stared around the bedroom in confusion. Lex had been there that night, he couldn't just have gone. Well, that wasn't true he could very easily just have gone. They hadn't talked about their feelings or anything, he had just said that he had wanted her to have the perfect prom night which he had given her and now he wasn't there. And why shouldn't he be gone, she reasoned. He had known that she was willing to give up her virginity just to get it over with; there was no reason for him to think her anything more than a cheap slut. There was no reason for him to still be there in the morning, she knew his history. She shouldn't have expected anything else.

With tears stinging her eyes and wondering how on earth she was going to call Lois and tell her a) where she was, b) that she needed her to come and get her, and c) bring her something to wear because her own clothes were ripped. It was a good job that Lois had decided not to go to the prom after all, she decided although she could only imagine how much Lois was going to make fun of her when she found out what she had done.

She looked around the room but couldn't see her clothing or her bag; it must be in the sitting room. She pulled back the blankets and tried not to cry as she saw the stain on top of them, then slowly got out of bed. She felt stiff and then, Chloe let out a little whimper of pain.

"Chloe", Lex came bursting through the double doors which led onto the sitting room, "What's the matter?"

"Lex", Chloe gasped as she saw him.

"I'll call you back", he barked into his phone before turning it off and thrusting it into his pocket as he hurried around to her side. He checked her out for any obvious signs of injury. There was still some bloody between her legs but other than that she looked fine so he guessed that it had just been a shock of some type. He tried to joke, "Who else were you expecting

"My lover", she attempted a joke in return but felt herself go a little weak as he grasped her upper arms and looked at her with such obvious concern. He hadn't left her.

"Are you alright?" He asked again.

"Yeah, I'm just being silly. I stood up too quickly and …"

"And you're sore", he supplied for her with a grin. "Come on, get back into bed", he helped her back in and covered her with the covers which was a shame as she was very nice to look at. "You shouldn't have been trying to get up yet anyway, don't you know how morning after prom night is supposed to work?" Without waiting for her to reply, he explained, "You are supposed to lounge around in bed and wait for your breakfast to come to you", he pressed the button on the intercom and informed someone on the other end that she was awake.

Before Chloe had the chance to comment on this, a maid came through with a huge tray of breakfast and freshly brewed coffee and another one followed with linen and a couple of small boxes.

"God that smells good", Chloe moaned as her stomach rumbled causing Lex to laugh as he ordered, "Breakfast on the bed please" and slipped one of the maids a tip for the both of them.

The second maid whipped off the old top coverlet – which was stained - and replaced it with another one in the blink of an eye causing Chloe to wonder if she had ever been a magician's assistant. The other then set out the breakfast as Lex was handed the boxes. Once they had gone Lex moved around to his side of the bed and sat down next to Chloe.

"Here you are", he gave her both boxes, "those pills are the best on the market and shouldn't cause you any harm or sickness, also they can be taken along with these", he pointed to the second box, "Nurofen", Chloe read aloud. "Are you always this thoughtful Lex?"

"No, usually I leave before she wakes up, saves me from having to admit that I don't remember, or never bothered to ask, her name", Lex tried to sound conversational as he said this but watched her intently out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't proud of it but he wanted Chloe to know that this wasn't normal for him, that she wasn't just one of the hundreds of girls he had bedded and then forgotten.

"I'm Chloe", she said holding her hand out for him to shake. She had got his message loud and clear, he wanted to – very gently – inform her that he was an experienced man of the world to whom nights like this meant nothing. She didn't expect anything from him, she knew that it had just been a one night thing and she would show him that she could be grown up and mature too. She would joke about this and act casually and then she would leave. When she next saw him she would be cool, calm and sophisticated … or as cool, calm and sophisticated as she could manage.

"Lex Luthor", he smiled as he took her hand and she felt a shot of electricity go straight through her. This was going to be more difficult that she had thought at first.

Trying to find something to distract herself with, she took her tablets with a swing of coffee and a bite of pain au chocolat. "Um this is good".

"Yeah, it looks it", he took one and ate it; trying to ignore the temptation to lick the spot of chocolate he could see on her lip from her pastry.

"Are you going to work?" Chloe wondered as she looked over at him, he was dressed very nicely in his grey trousers and that soft blue sweater of his that made her want to forget that last night had been a onetime thing.

"No", he smiled – he had been doing that a lot that morning – "this is for when we go out today".

"We are going out today?" Chloe asked in surprise.

"Yes, of course. I am taking you to see your future Universities so that we can have a look around and you can make your decision", Lex looked at her in confusion, he was sure that he had mentioned that to her before, hadn't he?

"Really?" Chloe squeaked, she had never been outside of Kansas before and the idea of going all over the country was really exciting but not so much as the thought of the fact that she was going to get to spend an entire day with Lex. She picked up her coffee cup to stop herself throwing her arms around him.

"Yes, really", he laughed at her obvious enthusiasm. He had never really thought of trips as being much of a treat, they were just par for the cause in his family, but seeing how excited it made Chloe he really wished that he had offered to take her somewhere nice before.

"Um Lex", Chloe asked hesitantly, "how are we going to do that when you cut my dress?"

"I ordered you some new clothes that are in the sitting room and made sure that they put female products and such like in the bathroom", he told her, honestly confused that she thought that he wouldn't have already taken care of everything that she needed.

"Lex you didn't have to …"

"I ripped it off, it's my job to replace it", he said neutrally thinking that this would be better than telling her that he had wanted to.

Although there was nothing particular about his voice, the glint in his eyes told her not to argue with him. "When are we leaving? Do I have time to finish eating before I shower and change?"

"Yeah, of course", he really couldn't work out what was going on in her brain, "but the plane leaves when you are ready and not a moment before so just relax". He was about to point out that there was a Jacuzzi that might help if she was sore but thought that that might test his resolve too much.

Lex's resolve had been tested ruthlessly all that day. He was fairly certain that Chloe hadn't been aware that she was torturing him, she had very little idea of what she could do to him at that point but he had spent the entire day torn between being amazed by her life force and energy, and trying to think of disgusting images so that he wouldn't get too hard when she laughed, or smiled at him, or even winced a little as she sat down reminding him of what he had done to her.

Even now, five years later and surrounded by people she could still make him crazy with lust.

"My schooling was just fine", Chloe replied tersely.

"I know it was ba … Chloe", he tried to assure her that he hadn't actually meant to insult her education – he knew that she was very proud of it, and so she should be, he damned sure was -, he had just been joking.

She seemed to soften for a moment before looking away, pretending to be bored rather than having to look at him and face the truth. Even after everything, he did care about her.

"Looking for your friends?" He said, trying not to sound jealous even though he was.

"Yeah".

"What are you going to tell them when they arrive?" He wondered.

"The truth".

"What is the truth?" Lex wondered.

"That I never stopped being in love with Clark and that now I am back I want to give it another go".


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Alexander Luthor came from a long and proud line of liars and cheats. He had been trained from birth to manipulate those around him into bending to his will, to know every move that this opponent was going to make before he did but to never show his own hand, or any emotion. That was the way to get ahead and that was all that mattered.

He had been named after one of – if not the - greatest military leader in history and he had to live up to it. To that end, he had taken down a hundred companies, deceived thousands of people and even taken on – and beaten – his own father. And he had managed it all with a practiced air of nonchalance. Nothing ruffled a hair on Lex's head, quite literally.

Lex tried to remember all of this as he sat there with his jaw hanging open in a most undignified manner. He was trying desperately to process what was going on around him but without much success.

Chloe's words, "I never stopped being in love with Clark and that now I am back I want to give it another go", reverberated in his mind making thought impossible. Every time he tried to drown them out they just screamed back at him louder than before. They would not be ignored.

She loved Clark. She had never stopped loving him.

Lex's fists clenched and it took what was left of his self-restraint not to get up and start throwing the furniture around. He couldn't do that; he couldn't lose what semblance of control he had left. He had to get to the bottom of this.

She couldn't love Clark. She simply couldn't.

He grabbed his drink and downed it one gulp hoping that the alcohol would help even though it was terrible. He had to think. There was no way that she could love Clark. Chloe had got over Clark years ago, he just knew that she had. He had seen the proof with his own eyes.

It was a beautiful early summer's afternoon and the dazzling sunlight shone down on the red brick courtyard giving everything a rosy romantic glow. Although classes and exams were now officially over there were still quite a few students milling around the place, all laughing and joking now that the stress was over for that year and they were free to enjoy their summer. There was quite a queue in front of the coffee cart but no one seemed to mind, not even a certain bald billionaire.

Lex took the chance to really have a look around the place. It was very nice, homely and warm but still thriving and academic. He had never had a chance to do anything other than study when he had been in University – unless one counted partying and fucking – but he liked the idea of a wholesome afternoon on the lawn of the University. That was an important part of the experience, at least to his mind.

There were plenty of students doing exactly that but however hard he tried to survey the entire campus from his vantage point, his gaze kept wandering back to the blonde beauty lying stretched out on a picnic blanket waiting for him to bring her some coffee from the cart he was queuing up in front of.

Chloe looked radiant. She had been beaming all day long, enjoying visiting each new university more than the last but this one was clearly her favourite. He wasn't surprised, as he looked around he realised that this was where she belonged. It seemed like a safe and friendly place to be, but with a strong academic reputation. He would be very happy if she were to stay here.

He was so much enjoying the sight of her looking completely unconcerned for once, that he did not realise that it was his turn to order. Man that girl was getting to him; he was never normally the one to lose his bearings. Finally he was forced to turn his back on her for a minute to complete the transaction – he wasn't sure that Chloe would find her beauty to be a suitable excuse for why he had not brought her coffee.

Coffee purchased, he turned back and saw a young man sitting on his blanket in his space, flirting with Chloe. His jaw clenched as he made his way back over there, trying to remind himself that it was good for her to have the chance to interact normally with her peers and that drop kicking the boy really wasn't an option … unfortunately.

"Chloe", he greeted her a little stiffly as he handed her her coffee.

If she noticed his manner, she didn't comment on it. She beamed up at him accepting her beverage, "My knight in shining armour", she teased. It had been a running joke with them that day that there was an evil monster known as the Snark and that the brave knight Sir Alexander had to save the beautiful but possessed princess from it by finding the magic potion. To this end they had ordered coffee at each University in turn and Chloe was keeping score – although Lex had assured her that whichever one had the best coffee he would move to wherever she chose to go.

"Oh", Chloe groaned in a way that reminded Lex forcibly of their activities last night, "This is the best so far", she announced, apparently unaware of the effect her voice was having on the men in her vicinity.

Hearing a slight cough from her new friend Chloe shook her head and gave an amused little half smile, "Oh sorry, where are my manners. Lex Kip, Kip Lex", she introduced them.

Lex had to fight back the urge to remind Chloe that to others he was Mr Luthor, a fight that he was in danger of losing until she took another sip and he temporarily lost the ability to speak. He noticed that Kip appeared to be likewise afflicted and reached out and shook the man's hand with enough force to make him decide that it was time for him to leave.

Chloe giggled even as she waved to a retreating Kip. "I love it here; this is definitely where I am going to go to school".

"Because of Kip or the coffee?" Lex asked, hoping that it was the coffee.

"Neither, big idiot", Chloe scoffed at him and Lex felt his stupidity. It was true that Chloe had been toying with the idea of attending MetU for Clark, but he had known him for years and even she admitted that she wouldn't really have done it. In the end Chloe would have made the sensible decision, with or without him. He was merely smoothing her way a little. He felt guilty for having doubted her sense, even for a few seconds. He just couldn't help it when the evil green eyed monster of jealousy flared up; he briefly wondered if the Snark could take it.

"Because I love it here, it had great courses, an amazing library and I don't know … I'm just happy here. It is as if all of that stuff in Smallville, all of that drama didn't exist", Chloe tried to explain the way that she was feeling and hoped that she was making some sense.

"What about Clark?" Lex wondered, wanting to know what her feelings for him were after last night rather than because he actually thought that she would consider MetU now.

"Clark is a good friend but nothing more, he never was really. I guess that it was just safer to have that school girl crush to cling on to rather than getting on with my life", she smiled. "I am certain that I was never in love with him".

Lex felt his heart leap and he wanted to lean over and kiss her but knew that that was inappropriate and that he could end up alienating her if he did so. So, instead, he said, "I'll be back in a moment, I have a business call that I have to make. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes".

"Take as long as you need, I don't want the world economy to crash just because Lex Luthor wasn't there to take a phone call", she teased him.

"If you take economics I'll give you a hand", he offered, before he muttered under his breath, "it looks like you could use it", as he made his way away from the blanket, he couldn't have Chloe hearing his phone call. When he was far enough away, he looked over his shoulder just to check that she was where he had left her and still alone.

"I want to speak to the chancellor, tell him that it is Lex Luthor calling", he said into his cell, "Yes, hello I've just been walking around your University and noticed that you have one of the largest academic libraries in the western world how would you like it to be the biggest? I thought that that is what you would say. You have offered a full scholarship to an incoming student called Chloe Ann Sullivan. No I don't fucking want you to revoke her scholarship, any talk like that again and I'll close down your fucking University." Lex took a breath as he heard the pleading on the other end of the phone.

"Now I will tell you what I do want. The scholarship she has been awarded covers her student fees, her accommodation in first year and a small amount of money is given to her after that and nothing else. Well, you are going to explain that you have made a mistake. Every first year student is guaranteed accommodation in a basic hall and there are special ones for scholarship students. There was some problem with the one which she was supposed to have but as you are required by law to provide her with accommodation she will be put into the best room you have for all four years with all bills included without her having to pay a penny", Lex explained as he thought this all out.

Gabe was now making pretty decent money but Chloe's education would still be difficult after so many years of struggling and he did not want Chloe to have to worry, or even think, about these things. She was going to have the best of everything. Tuition fees were taken care of, accommodation with rates and her meal plan were done, and he knew that Gabe would have taken care of the little extras that she needed that only left one other big thing.

"Tomorrow morning I will send you the most state of the art laptop that money can buy, you will send it to her saying that she won a competition. Make it believable", he ordered sharply.

"You can't mean that", Lex finally got out, although his voice was far weaker than he would have liked.

He had heard what she had said, her words still echoed in his head, but that didn't change what he had seen in her eyes all of those years ago. The truth in her eyes when she had said that she never been in love with Clark could not be doubted. She had said those words the night after they had made love. That had to mean something. She couldn't be going back on that, she just couldn't.

She had tried to hurt him earlier that night, maybe that was what she was trying to do now. That would make sense. Her back was turned to him as she looked around the room, hiding her face from his view.

"Chloe", he gasped, reaching out to grab her shoulders. He needed to see her face; then he would be able to tell if she was lying and she had to be lying. She just had to be. Even if she did not care about him as a lover, that did not change the friendship which they had struck up.

Chloe tottered along the winding hallways back to her apartment, unable to see where she was going as she was carrying so many books. She had been having remarkably good luck with winning things since she had started at University, which was rather strange as she had never had much good fortune with that kind of thing before. First there had been her apartment and meal plan which had both been upgraded for the four years with no extra charge, then her laptop and now she had won all of her school text books for the year in a raffle which she didn't even remember entering. If she had still been in Smallville she would have started to wonder whether she might not have some sort of meteor freak ability. Chloe was of course delighted with her run of good luck and the fact that she had just been saved several hundred dollars on books, she knew wished that she didn't have to carry all of them plus her coffee in one go. She couldn't wait to get back to her apartment and relax.

She smiled a little as she thought of her apartment. It was the most beautiful place that she had ever lived, if you didn't count the night that she had spent in the mansion with Lex when someone was trying to kill her, or the night in the hotel, also with Lex - which she didn't as she had only been visiting whereas now she lived there properly. It was a penthouse apartment in the most prestigious apartment block on campus and took up the whole of the top floor. It was large and spacious with hard wood floors, large windows with magnificent views in every direction. It had come ready furnished with pieces that Chloe guessed had cost more than her newly won laptop. She had been to several other apartments in the block and had noticed that while the others were nice, they were no were near as extravagant as hers – and her flatmates'. She knew that she shouldn't, but she was rather pleased by it. She normally never had the nicest things. It looked like things were turning around for her.

University suited her down to the ground. When her father had driven her up on the first day she had been excited but also a little scared. She had had to remind herself several times that she was Chloe Sullivan, hardened Metropolis-ite, head of The Torch and woman who had thrown down with more meteor freaks than she could shake a stick at. University held no terrors for her.

By the time that Gabe had seen her apartment – and stopped gushing over it -, helped her unpack, gone around the entire University with her checking that she knew where everything was and that all of her paper work was done – even though Lex had already taken care of all of that -, and bid her a tearful goodbye Chloe was fully settled in. She had made some new friends at the coffee cart and continued to do so and expand her social circle in her classes which she found incredibly interesting. Furthermore, the boys were a lot more appreciative of her than they had been back in Smallville – she didn't know whether it was just because she was running with a different, more educated crowd now, or whether she was simply more confident now that she had shared the Luthor scion's bed. Whatever it was, life was good.

In fact, everything would have been perfect if the girls she lived with would have been a little nicer. There were four of them in the apartment, the other girls were: Charlotte, Katie and Elizabeth. They were all from rich families and had been lovely to her when she had first come through the door and had even continued to be so when they had seen Gabe in his suit and had found out that he worked with Lex Luthor. However, when they had found out that she was a scholarship student they had decided that Gabe must have meant for, not with, and flatly refused to believe Chloe when they asked if she had ever met the billionaire – thinking to embarrass her – and she had answered in the affirmative. Since then things had been a little frosty between them. They weren't exactly mean, but they weren't friendly either. Still, Chloe wouldn't let them get to her. She had the nicest room anyway and soon she would be inside it.

Chloe was just considering whether she wanted to go out for dinner or order in, trying to keep her mind off the way that her arms were now burning but it wasn't really working.

"Come on arms, just a little further", she coaxed them before feeling herself jostle someone. "Sorry", she called out as her eyes widened as the entire tower began to teeter, she couldn't manage it. She splayed her fingers as much as possible; maybe if she could get a good enough grip on the ones at the bottom then she could …. It was no good. She could only watch in horror as they began to fall in a perfect line.

She wanted to cry, she knew that it was stupid but she had loved her new books. Normally her books were brought second hand and were already bruised and battered but these had been perfect and now they were going to be scruffy just like everything else she had ever owned.

Blinking in surprise Chloe witnessed a miracle. The person she had bumped into reached out his hands and took them from her, somehow managing to manoeuvre them so that the tower stopped leaning and falling. They were all safe and beautiful.

"Thank-you", she gasped, clinging onto her coffee cup as she reached out to try to take them back from the stranger.

"Allow me", a muffled voice came from behind the tower and Chloe had little choice but to acquiesce. They were right in front of her apartment so she ferreted around for her keys and quickly opened her door, "This is my apartment", she explained lamely and watched as he took the opportunity to enter. Chloe was about to take the top section from him and put them on the side table when her flatmate distracted her.

"Oh the scholarship student is back", Charlotte greeted her spitefully, then gasped, "Oh my God".

"What is it?" Chloe asked, turning back around to see what had shocked Charlotte. Surely she didn't think that someone offering to help Chloe was that strange.

"Lex", she squealed with delight, her arms flying out to embrace him. She only caught herself at the last moment and clasped them behind her back, wondering, "What are you doing here?"

They hadn't seen each other since the day that they had been to look at colleges. That evening Lex had taken her back home to Smallville and had even insisted on being there when she told her father of her decision and made the acceptance call and found out about her accommodation upgrade. He had been brilliant. Chloe would have loved to have spent more time with him and had called him the following day to thank him only to have him tell her not to bother as it had been his pleasure and that he had some news for her. She had been offered an internship at The Times and that the Luthor Corp jet would be waiting for her as soon as she had finished packing. With her father's help Chloe had packed and been in the air in less than half an hour and as much as she had enjoyed her summer in England, part of her wondered what Lex had had to do with her getting the job and whether it was so that he wouldn't have to see her. She had decided not to call him; he could be the one to decide if they were to have any contact.

"I was just passing through", he said, not mentioning that he had opened a new enterprise nearby just to make sure that he would always have an excuse to be just passing through. He had waited for her outside her apartment for just over an hour, wondering how she would react when she saw him. He knew that she could have misunderstood his sending her away to England and not having called her since then, not that he had ever called her before that, but sleeping together changed that. Well, actually normally they didn't for him, but for a woman like Chloe they would.

He had been hoping that she would at least speak to him rather than ignoring him but when he saw her arms go to hug him, his heart soared. He had never hoped for anything that good. He would never have hoped for so much or tried to force a hug on her, but as he took that as an offer he wrapped her in a bear hug and swung her around, asking, "Is that anyway to treat a guest?" It was overly demonstrative for him and he was fairly certain that he had never done anything like that before, but Chloe made him want to do things like that.

Chloe couldn't answer him for some minutes, as she was lost in the feeling of being in his big strong arms. She never wanted him to let her go. Her time away had been fantastic, but sometimes she did miss home. But as she stood there, cocooned in his warm embrace, breathing in his wonderful Lexy smell, she felt completely safe and relaxed and as if she were exactly where she was supposed to be. This was the feeling of home.

Lex was having much the same feelings, plus a good deal of annoyance as he had not been deaf to the way that Chloe's living companion had referred to her. That was going to change.

"It's been ages", Chloe declared, feeling that she really should say something rather than just staying cuddled up to him.

"Yes", he agreed., then added, "You look gorgeous", unable to help himself.

Chloe had let her hair grow a little and had clearly been putting her new found money to good use, she had a new wardrobe which had as much spunk and Chloevage – as he had taken to referring to it – as her old one but was a little more sophisticated.

"Thank-you", she blushed, "You don't look too bad yourself". That had to be the understatement of the millennium. He looked amazing! He was wearing a dark business suit but had taken off his tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt.

"Oh gosh where are my manners?" She closed the door and ushered him inside properly. "Come in. Let me show you my apartment".

Lex looked around, seeming not to notice that there was another person in the room. "You like it? I mean, nothing is wrong with it, is there?" Everything looked to be in order and the reports that he had got on the place showed that everything down to the heating was perfect.

"Oh no, it's great", Chloe assured him, surprised but touched that he cared so much about her living situation and comfort. She had never been so happy to not be living in the scholarship section, she wasn't generally that house proud but she would have felt awkward showing Lex into something shabby. "You wouldn't believe it but it is the best in the building, I can't understand how I got it". Chloe babbled on for a few minutes.

Lex smiled as Chloe talked and was glad to see that she hadn't worked it out yet as he was sure that he would catch it when she did, but it would be worth it if she was comfortable. He did another sweep of the room and this time his eyes locked with Charlotte's. She bet that she could work out exactly how Chloe had got it.

"And everyone is being nice to you?" He gave Charlotte a pointed look.

Chloe looked up at them and noticed what he was doing. "Yes Lex, everyone is being nice enough so you don't need to bankrupt anyone's entire family". She didn't like Charlotte but she would deal with her on her own, she didn't want Lex to fight her battles for her – he would probably use a real tank.

"Only too happy to do it", he said but not entirely for Chloe's benefit.

"I know", she assured him, this time glancing over at Charlotte who she was fairly certain she had just witnessed pale. Well Chloe supposed she could hardly blame her. Before Lex could say anything more and make the girl pass out she resolved to get him out of the room.

"Come and see my room, it is amazing. It used to be two rooms – and they were huge even when separated – but there was some sort of problem last year and they had to re do them and they knocked them into one _ginormous room_. I have a bedroom bigger than my dad's, an en suite bigger than our family bathroom with a whirlpool, my own study sitting room and mini kitchenette – not that I cook but it is nice to have. I even have my own washing machine. It is great", Chloe practically skipped into her room.

Lex smirked at her girlish delight and womanly behind before following her through. He knew that he was expected to examine the room and did so. It was good, exactly as he had ordered and Chloe had in essence got her own studio apartment. He was glad to see that Chloe had done it up a little more to her own tastes and that she had made a bit of a mess of it, with books and clothes littering parts of the apartment – it proved to him that she had made herself at home and that she was not having money worries.

"What are your lessons like?" He asked, thinking that that was probably the next obvious question to ask – if he weren't already getting weekly updates from the professors. Also, he found himself wanting to hear about it from her own lips.

"Fantastic", Chloe enthused. "There are so many different courses, I am taking literature from so many different genres it is incredible and writing courses and philosophy and languages. It is amazing! Can you believe that you can actually just sit around reading and discussing books and that that is considered work?"

"I'm sure that you do work hard at it", her enthusiasm was contagious. "What about friends?"

"They're brilliant too! Everyone here is so nice and open", certain girls not included of course. "I can't believe that I only had two real friends throughout the whole of high school and here I had ten in this first week". An odd expression flashed across Lex's features and she realised that she had been talking an awful lot about herself. "How is life back home?" She wondered, finding it odd that she still thought of it as home when she was so settled where she was.

"I have moved back to Metropolis, your Dad is in full control of the Smallville plant. I am surprised that he didn't tell you", Lex informed her, wishing that they could go back to talking about her. He could listen to her babble about University – or anything else for that matter – for hours with that light in her green eyes.

"He did but I wanted to hear it from you", Chloe explained thinking that Lex was very funny sometimes. It was as if he thought that people would only talk to him to get something out of him, even if it was just his interpretation of information that they already knew. As she realised that that was probably the case, she felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her.

Lex stood almost awkwardly for a moment as he saw her expression change. He had wondered if he should have called her, but he wouldn't have known what to say.

"Would you like some food?" Chloe asked. It seemed a better option than throwing her arms around him and telling him that someone cared about him and wanted him in their life without asking for anything in return.

Chloe opened her cabinet, mini fridge and a draw to reveal her array of snacks. Lex had to admit that he was rather impressed but had to declined, "You see I would like to take you out".

"Because you want to or because you want to show off in front of Charlotte?" Chloe asked suspiciously.

"Because I want to see you", Lex answered certainly.

Chloe grinned at him. She looked radiant.

"Tell me the truth Chloe", he beseeched her, placing his hands on her shoulders. He felt a shudder go through her but she kept her face hidden from him so that he couldn't see the glimmer of tears in her eyes or the quiver of her chin.

Forcing her voice not to waiver, she answered, "The truth is that I want that I want to be with Clark, or someone like him".


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"You want to be with Clark, or someone like him?" Lex repeated trying to take that in. It was like a blow to the gut. Deep down he knew that that was probably who she should be with, so why had she chosen to remain alone and lonely for so long? She could have got a new lover in a second.

"Yes!" She said emphatically.

Lex beamed. He recognised that tone of voice, he knew what it meant. She was lying to him.

"You don't mean that Chloe", he said more confidently this time as he slid his chair over so that he was sitting right behind her, still not moving his hands from her shoulders.

"I do", her voice trembled this time.

"No you don't", he leant in close enough to whisper in her ear, "I know you too well for that Chloe. I know when you are lying to me".

"You don't know me at all Lex", she denied shaking her head. She tried to focus on scanning the room hoping that that would take her mind off his proximity, off the way that his hands felt against her skin, the way his breath made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Yes I do. I know you better than anyone else. You were my first ever real friend", he told her and a tear trickled down her cheek. She raised her hand to her face so brush it away quickly, anxious for Lex not to see it, even if she knew logically that he couldn't see it since her face was turned away from him.

"I can't believe that this is what you wanted to do to celebrate", Lex laughed as they sat on the rug in the middle of her private sitting room.

"That is because you are a horrible snob", Chloe stuck her tongue out at him from a good distance away.

"Damn straight", he shot back grabbing one of her alarming number of throw pillows and chucking it at her.

"I plan on breaking you of that", she informed him, catching the pillow and hurling it right back at him.

"Impossible", he informed her, catching the pillow easily and returning it to its rightful place.

"Difficult but not impossible", Chloe decided after studying him for a few moments as if giving the matter serious consideration. "And yes, this is absolutely how I want to celebrate. I know, I know you would have been happy to take me out to a fancy restaurant and that would have been nice, I'm sure that I would have enjoyed it but not as much as this. Whenever we go out together we have to worry about whether or not someone is going to take a picture of us, I have to think twice before I hug you and I didn't want that for tonight."

"Fair enough", he beamed at her. The truth was that he was delighted that he had finally found someone who cared about him enough to spend time with him not just when they needed something or when he was treating them to something but just generally hanging out together because they both felt like it.

Chloe was scrupulous about making sure that Lex was included in everything. He came down to do work there every Friday afternoon and she made sure that her Friday nights were always free to spend with him. They went out to dinner, they went to the theatre, the movies, anything he could think of although for the last couple of weeks he had been in the library with her helping her to study.

Friday was fast becoming his favourite day of the week, although it quite often spread into Saturday as Chloe normally had something planned with her friends and always made sure to invite Lex. At first he had refused not wanting to intrude but after Chloe had threatened him he had agreed to come.

Over the course of the year the circle of friends had started to only be involved in about 1 out of 4 of their excursions, it was now just taken for granted that Friday through Saturday was Chloe and Lex's special time together. They were becoming closer every week although they never mentioned what had happened between them on prom night even though it was becoming increasingly hard not to with every passing day. Neither of them had been with anyone else since then and the need was growing hard to ignore.

"So, does this mean that you want to hug me?" Lex teased her. He had never been very demonstrative before but he was growing extremely used to having an arm around her shoulders all of the time, even when they were out in public – which had caused a few misunderstandings.

"Of course, once we have eaten I plan on putting a movie on and cuddling you", she replied stabbing an errant piece of broccoli which kept escaping her fork.

"Good. I can't believe that I am actually seeing Chloe Sullivan willingly eating a green", he teased her.

Chloe stuck her tongue out at him and scrambled away from him as he lifted his hand to deliver a pat to her thigh.

"Yes, I have become quite fond of vegetables ever since someone practically shoved some down my throat", she informed him.

"I did not practically shove them down your throat", he argued, "I just wanted you to try them. I spent ages on that meal".

"I know you did, and this one", she took another mouthful, "which is very good by the way."

"But there was no shoving practical or otherwise", he complained.

"Oh I beg to differ", Chloe said crawling over and leaning across him to reach her scrap book.

"Oh no, not this again", he groaned. There had been a photo in a local paper of them sitting on the lawn having a picnic – prepared by Lex's own hand – with him trying to feed her some spinach off his fork. The picture did look rather like he was attacking her with the fork and had been placed next to a far gentler one of her being fed chocolate brownies with her eyes closed and a look of utter delight. He couldn't look at – or even think of - that second picture without getting hard.

"Yes this again", Chloe said not practically on top of him as she grasped the book and pulled back.

"Don't you open that book Chloe", he warned her.

"Or what?" She taunted him as she always did.

"Or I'll chastise you", he said calmly. He had made business men quiver but Chloe paid no attention to him as she not only opened it she flipped through it to find the image she wanted.

"Yeah yeah you have been threatening to do that since prom night but you can't fool me Luthor, you are just a big softy", she teased.

"Chloe", he warned, not seeming particularly angry.

"A big sweet soft cuddly teddy bear made just for me", she said in a sing song voice making no move to pull away from him.

"One more chance Chloe", he leant towards her lowering his voice to a menacing level.

"Or what?" She asked, "You'll spank me?"

"Not actually where I was going with this, but it's a good idea", he said deciding that being that sassy meant that she didn't deserve her final chance. "Come here", he growled, grabbing her around the waist and hauling her into his lap.

"Lex, Lex what are you doing?" She squealed, then started shrieking, "No Lex, no please Lex".

"I gave you more than enough chances Chloe", he told her as his fingers ran all over her, tickling her and somehow still holding her in his lap.

Chloe tried to protest at this but she was giggling too much. She had always been incredibly ticklish, a fact that Lex had discovered early on in their friendship. But she wouldn't give up, she tried to tickle him back only to find herself being lifted up by the arms and placed on the floor, in a trice he was on top of her straddling her hips and holding both of her wrists above her head with one hand and using the other to trail along her body tickling her as he went.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wriggled ineffectually in an attempt to get away from him. Lex couldn't deny that the sight and feel of her underneath him did a lot to him. He had been going crazy for her since he had first had her had her if not before. She was utterly delectable.

He knew that he should give her a chance to give in but he didn't want to give up his only excuse to touch her in such an intimate manner. He slipped his fingers underneath the fabric of her shirt to skim across her bare skin lightly enough to tickle but still giving her some respite from the hysterics that she had been approaching only moments before.

Slowly Chloe came back to herself. It would have been so easy to close the few inches between them and kiss his soft, tempting lips but she had to force herself not to. They hadn't spoken about that night, that had to mean something. Sometimes she thought that Lex might want a relationship with her, but if he did then sure he would have said something to that effect; he wasn't shy. No, it must be all in her head, she was confusing love and friendship and that would never do.

"Lex", she breathed his name.

"Yes", he said, damned near hypnotised by her eyes.

"My neck hurts", she announced, she wasn't willing to give in but she had to get him off her quickly.

"Oh I'm sorry, is it from thrashing about like that?" He got of her immediately and helped her up.

"No, don't worry about it. I think that I just sat funnily in my last exam, I was writing at a tiny desk for over five hours", Chloe explained.

"Poor thing, I should have thought", Lex said, their meal completely forgotten.

"What are you doing?" Chloe wondered as Lex not only helped her up but moved her as well so that she was sitting in between in legs with her back facing him.

"I'm trying to fix your neck", he informed her, as if it were obvious.

"Oh Lex, you don't have to", Chloe tried to turn around but found herself being held still by the shoulders.

"I know that I don't have to, but I want to. You always try to make everyone else feel comfortable Chloe, let me try to help you", he said in a tone which brooked no arguments.

"Okay", Chloe agreed, thinking that it felt a little off to just be sitting there being lazy while someone else went out of their way to help her.

"Besides, now you can relax a bit for the summer now that you are finished with finals", Lex returned to their previous topic of conversation.

"Yeah, I am so glad that they are oh", she moaned and relaxed her neck as she felt him beginning to knead her shoulders. She felt bad seeing as she had made up the pain in her neck. "I'm so glad that they are over, that last one today was a nightmare. I didn't manage to write down half of what I knew about the subject".

"Well you passed with flying colours anyway so …"

"We don't know that", Chloe pointed out, cutting him off.

"Yes we do, I paid to see the grades in advanced and someone is very smart", he continued to rub her shoulders carefully as they were full of knots.

"Lex", she gasped but this time not in pleasure, "you know that I don't want you interfering!" That sounded harsh she knew but she had to be firm on this point and tried to pull away from him.

"Chloe, I'm sorry but I had to know. I didn't have anything to do with you getting those grades, I just made sure that your tests were graded first and that I was informed of the grades. I'm sorry if that upsets you but I knew that you would worry about the outcome of the tests so I found out what was going on so that I could tell you. That way you have nothing to worry about." He felt her trying to pull away and exerted a little extra pressure on her shoulders.

"Oh", she reacted to the pressure, he was apparently trying to make her melt but she wouldn't forget her anger. "I don't want you fixing my life".

"I'm not, just finding out about things they you did entirely on your own merit so that I can stop you worrying needlessly and so that you will be more amenable to my next suggestion", he said carefully moving his hands further down her shoulders.

"What is your suggestion?" Chloe asked, temporarily distracted.

"Come to Europe with me this summer", he offered.

"What?" Chloe exclaimed in complete and utter shock.

"I was talking to the people at The Daily Planet, I swear I was just talking and your name came up. It turns out that the editor and chief is a huge fan of yours, when they took your column away they received thousands of complaints." He heard her gasp. "Anyway, he had seen you and me in the paper together and guessed that I didn't hate you and as my father's power is now limited asked if I would allow them to hire you back and I said that whether you worked for them or not was entirely up to you but I would not oppose it", he explained being sure to highlight the fact that he had nothing to do with her potential appointment.

"Are you serious?" She gaped.

"Yes", he answered simply.

"And you are certain that you had absolutely nothing to do with it?" She needed to be absolutely sure before she jumped at the chance.

"Positive, they just really loved you". He really didn't know why she was finding this so hard to believe.

"That is fantastic. But how does that tie into me going to Europe with you?" She wondered, unable to deny the fact that the idea appealed to her.

"Well then I asked them exactly what they would want from you as you would probably only be able to work during the holidays and they said that they had an idea for a culture section for you. Going around high society and writing about it, museums, art galleries etc. which I thought that you would like. But I am going around Europe this summer and thought that you might like to come with me and write about what you see", Lex suggested.

"Wow, I can't believe this", Chloe said trying to wrap her mind around everything.

"Really? Haven't you ever read your own work?" He continued his massage.

"Well yes of course I read my own work and I had always hoped that someday I might get an opportunity like this but this is amazing. I would do anything to write again for a newspaper like that", Chloe enthused. "You are absolutely sure that you didn't have anything to do with my appointment?"

"I swear to you Chloe, I didn't", he said with perfect honesty, hating to think what would happen if she ever found out that he was responsible for her accommodation etc.

"Alright, then I will accept it", she grinned.

"What about coming to Europe with me for the summer?" Lex asked.

"I'm not sure Lex", she admitted. "I would love to go, you have no idea how much but I don't want to feel like I am using you".

"You wouldn't be. I would be delighted to have you with me. Please Chloe, you're my best friend. Come with me to Europe".


End file.
